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Sometimes it's harder to write a post on a day off, than it is when I work. 

I got up at 6 and hit the snooze alarm a couple of times.  Ron and I had planned to go to a new taqueria, as the old one seems to be shut down.  I really liked the old one, it had great prices, close to the house, great food.  My only problem is they served alcohol and Ron would order it sometimes (margarita, beer, etc.)

I decided to take my shower later, and to also do my God Time later.  I sat in front of the TV and rotted my brain with sci-fi reruns.  I put all my medication into my little portable pill holder and put that into my fannypack. 

Our driver picked us up on time and I asked him about his dog.  I was convinced he was the guy who has a pit bull he uses as a stud dog.  No, it wasn't him.  In fact, his dog had died a while ago.  I told him about BARC and raved about the adoption process, how the animal is already fixed, etc.  I didn't say this, but I personally think it is really important to adopt rather than shop, for pets.  He said he would think about it, in a way that suggested he actually would. 

He found the new place's location pretty easily, even though, in my opinion, it was a little tricky to find.  Like the old place, they hung Mexican blankets in the windows.  The décor was similar, too. 

We went in and found a table, but Ron was obsessed with finding out if they had an accessible bathroom.  I went and checked the ladies' room, it would have been awfully tight for him.  I went out again.  He was getting worried, he didn't need to go but sometimes, let's just say I told him "I am tired of your butt ruling our lives" and Ron agreed with me.  I asked the employees if the men's room was accessible, and they didn't know what that meant.  I asked if I could go look in the men's room "To see if his wheelchair will fit".  They said OK.  I went and looked.  The bathroom is larger than my computer room, has one toilet, and tons of space.  I went out and told Ron it was OK. 

Then I had to read him the menu.  Normally I don't mind but if we find a place with braille menus I will always get him one.  I told him they had (watch this, spellchecker) both chilaquiles and machacado.  He loves both. 

I decided to play it safe and get a quesadilla, and a couple of breakfast tacos.  Potato and egg sounds good, but I didn't like it.  I ate them anyway 'cause I need my protein.  Now I know.  Ron finally decided on chilaquiles, beef, with green sauce, but they don't put the green sauce on the food.  They give you a bottle of it on the side.  I guess a lot of people don't like the sauce. 

The old place had chicken only, and it was all cut up already and mixed in with the chicken, cheese, tortilla strips, eggs, and seasonings.  This place had a big chunk of meat and two fried eggs sitting on top of the "casserole".  I had to cut it up for him.  Ron loved it.  He especially liked the beans.  He liked it so much he went back for leftovers a couple hours after we got home.  Normally he doesn't do that. 

I saw a vapor shop in the parking lot.  One of my friends has very bad arthritis in her hands.  She takes cannabis oil.  She said you can get it at a vape shop.  I saw a neon sign that looked like an open sign.  It was not.  Oh, well, I'll have to try again later. 

My meal was uneventful except I got quesadilla grease on my chest, right above my heart.  It looked like I'd been shot.  Pretty funny. 

The same driver came back.  I told him the shelter had 207 adoptable dogs right now.  I told him when they closed.  He still seemed interested so I let it alone. 

We went home.  I went and checked the mail; I knew I'd be taking my shirt off to treat the grease stain, and wouldn't be going out again. 

We got a letter from his doctor, along with the radiology report.  Ron has severe to moderate arthritis at the base of his thumb joint, and one joint further out.  Doc suggests we see a hand specialist. 

Ron only has the one good hand.  He has what I would consider to be a very appropriate level of concern about any interventions done on that hand. 

It's the hand he uses to wipe his butt, you know?  Yike.  I really don't want to do that if I can avoid it. 

I really want to get him some cannabis oil.  It will either work, or it won't.  If it doesn't work I am only out the money.  It is legal in Texas.  It sure worked for Betty.  She went off all her RA medicine for her hands.  I will pray on this. 

In the meantime, I read the letter to Ron (they didn't find anything significantly wrong with his leg on X-ray), and took a nap. 

I was lonely, lying in my bed.  I called Torbie but she didn't come.  She's like that.  She's a cat, she'll take a message and get back to me.  I heard Biscuit come in the pet door, and, on a lark, I called him to get in my bed.  He did, stretched out, and we had a great nap. 

He's such a sweet cat.  I have a hard time seeing how someone could dump him in the woods to die.  Yes, he's pukey, but so what?  We had a great nap. 

I got up and did my God Time, watched some TV, did some cleaning.  I finally took my shower.  My thinking is, tomorrow morning I will be getting very sweaty before and at work.  It would be nice to take a shower when I get home tomorrow. 

I just hope I can get a nap (maybe with Biscuit!) after all that heavy lifting. 

A little less drama

Today found me literally throwing myself between Soda #3 and a pallet jack. 

I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked, but I DID have Torbie in my bed, which makes even a crappy night's sleep even better.  I got up and did my usual morning routine.  I grimly ate one of my "new" peanut butter protein bars.  They are awful.  They have a gummy texture and aren't crunchy enough.  I am having a battle of the cheap, so I grimly finish them off, or do I throw them out and call it a loss? 

The Dark Chocolate mint version is much better, by the way.  I took my pills, drank my Diet Mountain Dew, and took my shower, shaving my legs. 

Our driver came on time.  She needed to use a bathroom so I directed her to the "nice bathroom" gas station near our home.  Then we headed off to work. 

I knew something was up when we walked in the door, they had a huge poster with a head shot of the plant manager, saying "Thank you".  OK. 

We got into the cafeteria and they had all the tables set up like they do when they are having a cake-and-punch event.  OK, we can work around that. 

We were asked when we were leaving, we told them 9:50.  They were staring at 10:30 so we would be clear. 

We told them, if you just call us and tell us in advance, we'll stay home. 

I took the recycle dumpsters out of the stockroom and was instructed by a manager to put them back, the custodians needed to mop.  OK, I shoved them back in the stockroom, in the other vendor's area, where they normally live when we're not working.  I got my cart and loaded it up with snacks and got to work.  I helped Ron navigate around the tables so he could stock canned sodas. 

I saw them drag in a pallet jack, I wondered what it was for but didn't think much of it at the time.  The custodians were in a cleaning frenzy, vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping.  Then I saw the guy run a pallet jack and take aim at Soda #3.  I went running over there and dove between the jack and the machine. 

The man got annoyed at me, said they needed to move the vending machines so they could clean around them.  I said that was a problem, because the machines belong to Dr Pepper and can only be moved by Dr Pepper movers.  They said "Then call Dr Pepper".  I told them, they won't come out today. 

A manager showed up and said she wanted to move all the other machines so they could clean around them.  Many of the machines are balanced on  legs, if you drop them down on the floor the balance will go off and you'll have trouble with the doors.  Not to mention, they could drop it altogether and break them. 

Vending machines cost thousands of dollars.  Each.  They belong to the State of Texas, and a State of Texas moving team will have to move the machines, I explained.  If they gave me advance notice, I could have someone come in and move the machines, so they could clean, and then my guys could put them back, but I could not, under our contract, allow them to move the machines. 

Then the manager tried to tell me I would have to clean their floor.  I took her to Ron, who said NO in a very authoritative way.  He was working, too, which I think raised him a little in her estimation. 

She finally left us alone.  But I didn't know, while I had been focusing on the 7 machines on the south wall, she was having her lackeys move the coffee machine and the food machine on the west wall. 

Do you know how much a food machine costs?  And they just left it sitting on the pallet jack.  I was horrified and kept cringing at every bang, thinking it was the food machine falling down. 

I did tease one of the guys.  He plugged in the coffee machine and it didn't start.  "It's not working" he said "I don't know what happened". 

I told him it wasn't working, so I turned it off.  Then I proceeded, with a grin, to castigate him.  "You broke it!  How could you?  You're gonna pay for this, buddy!"   We had a good laugh. 

Ugh.  It's a good thing I take mood stabilizers.  If I were a drinker I would have needed a drink after all that. 

The repairman came, and had to lay on the floor to work on the door hinge.  The bolt that holds the doorstop was broken, it actually broke in his hand, but it's not necessary to the operation of the machine.  He had me open and close it several times, I was happy, it made a little pop at the far end of the arc but it works fine. 

Then Ron had him give the bill changer a tune-up.  Basically a component is taken out, screws are removed, something is taken off, and a chain is scrubbed with a giant metal toothbrush.  It worked much better after he finished. 

Good, all done.  Ron and I decided, with the frenzy in the cafeteria, to leave a half hour early.  We did that. 

We spent some time in the other vendor's breakroom.  I bought a bag of Tater Skins Bacon and Cheddar.  Those are good, but you don't get a heck of a lot in the bag.  Ron tried some popcorn and he liked that.  He got a couple bags of stuff and we split a cold diet Dr Pepper. 

I am, currently, out of caffeine free diet sodas at work.  I need to buy some on Saturday.  I drank a couple extra (for me) caffeinated sodas and I had a very hard time sleeping during my nap today. 

The circus wasn't over yet.  When we went outside, an overweight woman in skintight jeans was sitting spread eagled on the bench, one leg on either side of the bench.  Not a very modest position. 

My first thought was "Didn't your mother ever teach you to sit like a lady?"  Then I started thinking about the kind of mother she must have had, to teach her that sitting spread-eagled in skintight jeans is an acceptable position.  I found it very sad. 

She was on the phone, someone eventually came and got her.  She had a folder with papers in her hand, so I think she got fired.  They weren't doing any trainings today. 

Work is always putting out memos on the proper dress code and people are always breaking them.  If Ron saw half of what I've seen his eyes would fall out. 

Our ride finally came.  We went to the bank. 

Our teller was a pretty black lady with her hair in twists.  I complimented her hair and we got down to business. 

I do wonder, sometimes, when I go to the bank, should we bring them a snack?  I need to talk to Ron about it. 

Anyway, I got paid and Ron gave me a bonus, I think for last week.  We made our deposit and Ron called Lou the cab driver. 

The nice thing about Lou: we can go through a drive-through.  A paratransit driver would probably get fired for that.  I got some chicken nuggets and Ron got fries. 

He ate them, in the cab, straight out of the bag like a starving man.  I guess he didn't eat any breakfast. 

Ron doesn't like me fixing food for him, except on special occasions.  We got home and I got Ron in the house. 

I ate my food and took my pills.  Chicken Nuggets + lithium and friends = OK.  I have figured out some food combinations.   If I try it with chicken strips I'll get very sick.  Go figure that one out. 

While we were waiting at work, I found a new taqueria on my cell phone.  It has 4.6 stars out of 5, tremendous reviews, and some really good looking photos of their food.  They are also pretty close by so easy access, too.  Ron made a trip to go there tomorrow. 

We'll see how we like it.  I sure hope tomorrow is quiet and boring.  I need a rest.

MRI fail

So, how did it go? 

I got up early, did my protein bar and medication, drank my Diet Mountain Dew.  I took my shower, I need to shave my legs tomorrow. 

I had packed a bag with some caffeine free diet sodas, snacks, etc.  The last time we went to the doctor I ran out of drinks, and was very hungry.  I fixed that this time. 

We left the house right as our ride pulled up, and off we went.  We checked in at the front desk and were directed to "Imaging".  I pushed Ron in the wheelchair.  The facility has linoleum floors, interspersed with raised laminate floors.  It is very aggravating having to "bump" the wheelchair up over the separations. 

Ron asked me once how I got him over bumps.  The back of the wheelchair has a little pole that sticks out, I put my foot on the pole and pull up on the handles with my arms.  That lifts the front of the wheelchair so I can get it over the obstruction. 

We got to imaging, handed over the Medicare card and ID, got them back, paid, and were given a big clipboard full of papers to fill out. 

I began working on them.  It went pretty well until I got to "describe the pain".  Ron was not very communicative:  "Bad". 

"Is it throbbing, stabbing?  Electric shocks?" 

"Bad". 

I finally got "intense aching" out of him and put that down.  I then wrote "It just hurts" with quotation marks. 

Of course they were running behind so we waited.  Ron put his ride "on hold" so we wouldn't have to deal with paratransit coming before the MRI.  Right as he did that someone called his name. 

We went to the room, Ron gave me his stuff, and I pushed the wheelchair, as directed, a careful 2 feet into the room.  The tech helped Ron stand and walk to the scanner bed.  Then I left. 

I didn't notice the time.  Wendy Williams came on.  I really dislike her.  I don't like gossips.  It is one thing to talk about what is going on in my life, another thing entirely to share sordid details of someone else's life.  Ron is aware I am writing about him. 

I did a mobile blog and liked that.  Then the receptionist called me up.  "He couldn't complete the MRI, he is in too much pain".  I worried that might happen.  "They want you to go back and pick him up.  Come see me for your refund when you get him." 

Well. 

I got Ron, the tech helped Ron walk to the wheelchair, which I left in the doorway.  They were talking, apparently they can do an MRI where they knock Ron out and put him in a machine.  That will have to do. 

I took Ron back to the receptionist and we got our money back.  That means we still have $200 to pay to meet our deductible. 

Ron took his ride "off" of hold.  They sent someone out 45 minutes later, not too bad considering.  The van had 2 employees, one of them was training the other.  I couldn't tell who was the trainer.  They pulled up in the wrong place, with a massive attitude, ranting about "wrong addresses".  No, the address applies to the entire building.  It doesn't have a separate address for each door. 

But ignorant people tend to get hostile and attack, if they can't figure something out.  We've been to this place dozens of times and they have always figured it out.  Just these guys. 

I told her where the pupusa place was and she went the wrong way down the main road, almost to the freeway.  The other one had to tell her to turn around.  If you are going to #200 and all the numbers are well over #300 and climbing, you are probably going the wrong way, and all the numbers were clearly marked on the buildings.  Agh. 

It was literally, one block away, but not safe to push Ron there.  Maybe she wanted to rack up the mileage on her trip sheet, I don't know. 

We finally got there.  One driver complained when I told her pupusas have cheese.  The other one said she loved cheese.  Maybe she will come back. 

We went in, they were happy to see us.  I ordered two beans-and-cheese and Ron ordered a burrito to go.  I gave him a bite of mine when it came and he ordered a beans-and-cheese for himself.  They are really good.  It's not any one ingredient, it's how they meld. 

We ate our food, happily, the Spanish version of the Discovery channel blaring in the background.  I drank 2 cans of Diet Dr Pepper, which came back to haunt me when I laid down for my nap.  The caffeine made it a little harder to sleep. 

Ron called Lou the cab driver to take us home.  I told Ron I had found some money for the business in my fannypack.  I keep "my" money in one compartment, and "Business" money in a separate one. When I opened it, I found a nice little sum.  It's not mine, it must be his. 

I don't steal so I gave it to him, we used some of it to pay Lou.  Lou says he might try a pupusa one day. 

We went home, then I took my nap.  I had a pretty good nap but borderline PTSD nightmares so I woke up.  Usually, I am pretty good at realizing, during a nightmare, that I am having a nightmare and it isn't real.  Usually, I can either "fight back" or wake myself up. 

I would have liked a longer nap, though, but that wasn't happening. 

I didn't do any housework today, I am being lazy.  Ron just told me I need to get up at 3 AM in order to meet our repairman tomorrow. 

Which gives me about a half hour before I have to go to bed.  I want something salty. 

Excruciating pain

The medical peeps came and got me, Ron couldn't do his MRI.   Too much pain. They said they will need to knock him out next time.  He is angry and depressed, I am just tired.

I've been waiting

Waiting at MRI.  Good news, we met our deductible.  More later.

"Your wife is blacker than you!"

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night.  At first, everyone who lived in #6, all eight of them, wanted to come out and play for a while.  I normally wouldn't have minded but it was my bedtime and they were very loud.  Thankfully, it was still very hot so they didn't last long before they went back inside.  After that, I just had trouble falling asleep. 

I woke up pretty early and took my shower, did my God Time, and ate my protein bar.  They stopped selling "my" brand at Walmart so I am experimenting with different brands. 

I drank my usual Diet Mountain Dew with it.  Usually that is my only source of caffeine for the day. 

I got my bags together because we were going to Walmart.  I made sure I had my money, too.  One time I forgot it and had to borrow money from Ron.  That was embarrassing. 

We had an interesting ride, the driver was doing a rap-a-long with the music on his stereo.  We got to talking about rap, Ron did his usual "I hate that stuff".  The driver asked, "Didn't you grow up [in a bad ghetto]?"  Yes, Ron replied. 

"Your wife is blacker than you!"  I took it as a compliment. 

We got out and I looked for a kiddie cart, but they were stuck behind the "baby carts".  I couldn't get a kiddie cart.  I left Ron by the plastic bag recycling station and did my shopping. 

Ron had actually given me a list, for a change.  He wanted Benadryl in the gelatin capsules, Tic Tac Fruit Adventure, etc.  I got all of that and put it in the cart. 

I got some more protein bars, canned food (mainly chili, and canned lasagna.  I did get a shelf stable roast beef dinner).  I bought a gallon of organic milk and thought about getting some shredded cheese.  I decided not to do it because I think I might have some in the bottom of the fridge.  Even if it's bad, it's a good indicator that I am not a big consumer of shredded cheese right now. 

I got some big (28 ounce) Styrofoam bowls so I can heat up the chili, and more cat food of course.  The cats have plenty of their little plates so I'm not worried about that. 

I finished up pretty quickly and checked out.  I got myself some lunch at McDonald's and ate that.  About the time I finished, our cab came.  It was Anthony.  I like Anthony. 

We, of course, had to pick up another client as well.  She took the front seat while I was loading our (Ron's and mine) groceries in the back.  But when we got to her place and she got out, I jumped up front.  I don't like the "boa constrictor" seat belts in the backseat, they cut into my neck and interfere with my circulation.  It makes me dizzy and sick.  All of the "wheelchair cabs" are like this.  That's why I always grab the front seat if I can. 

We got home and I put the milk away, then took a nap.  I had a post-traumatic nightmare that woke me up but good.  It was horrible.  It's awful how something that happened 30 years ago can still eat at me and define me even today. 

I did my new Tuesday ritual and cleaned the house while I watched Hoarders.  I cleaned the front room, threw away a lot of stuff, swept, cleaned the bathtub, and washed the sheets.  I am about to change the sheets when I finish the blog. 

Tomorrow, Ron has his MRI.  That should be interesting.  I would be shocked if we found anything, I am almost certain this is nerve disease.  So we will basically be wasting $300 for Ron's drinking. 

Ron got ugly with me a while ago.  He was feeding the cats treats in his bed and Torbie ("my" cat) took treats from Baby Girl ("his" cat).  He was very angry, and raving.  I told him if he wants to stop that and keep Torbie out of his room (he is always complaining she is getting into bed with him), he needs to stop feeding treats in the bedroom.  No, he didn't want to do that.  He said I was a "bad mother" because I wouldn't "come and get her" and then called me by my mother's name.  I asked him if he wanted me to call him (his Dad's name, because his dad was also an alcoholic) when he drinks.  He said yes but I could tell he got the point. 

The point being, I told him, you can't have it both ways.  Either you will feed treats in your room, treats will be "stolen", and you will have my cat in your bed; or you can stop feeding treats in your room and eliminate all those problems.  Ron said something about "teaching" her "not to steal".  I reminded him she's a cat and sort of beyond that.  He finally shut up. 

Oh, I forgot to mention.  I covered the loveseat with a sheet to keep off the cat hair.  It was really thick with cat hair.  I bought another sheet and washed it.  Today I removed the old sheet, used a lint brush on the couch (because some of the cat hair got through), threw it away, and put on the new sheet.  It looks very good.  I moved the little blanket Biscuit liked to sleep on. 

When he got on the couch, he kept sniffing around and acting upset.  I realized, thanks to "My Cat From Hell", I had removed his "scent markers".  So I found the little blanket and put it on the back of the couch.  Biscuit has been very happy ever since. 

And I need to get to bed.  Well, I need to change my sheets and then go to bed. 

"The perfect combination"

I didn't sleep well last night.  The Claratin was alive and well in my system.  It will probably come as no surprise to you that I would take a "cocktail" to stay awake those days when Ron was in ICU.  The medical peeps kept talking about pulling the plug and I didn't want that.  So I stayed there, and stayed awake, as much and as long as possible. 

I found the perfect combination (I'm so lucky I didn't kill myself).  I would take two diet pills with epehedra, which is now banned.  It was legal back then.  Then I would take a Sudafed.  The old style ones kept me awake (like the Claratin does now).  I would wash it all down with a full-sugar Mountain Dew soda and some candy.  It kept me awake for about 36 hours at a shot. 

I was so stupid!  The things we do for love. 

Anyway, the revved feeling I had last night reminded me of my old "perfect combination" days.  I finally fell asleep.  Torbie joined me, we had a good thing going.  And then some idiot started firing off artillery shell fireworks.  An artillery shell is basically a big round ball of explosive (yes, in my manic days I actually set these things on fire and ran like hell).  The explosive has a fuse coming out of it.  It looks like a cannon ball.  They sell it to you with a cardboard tube.  You light it and drop it in the cube, it explodes and goes up into the air, then makes a small "firework" bang with pretty colors.  They are pretty, and fun, but they are very loud, especially on the night of June 25.  I'm not exactly expecting that kind of ruckus over a week before the 4th of July.  They are also very expensive, especially when you consider you can buy a string of firecrackers, buy-one-get-one-free for $1.  It woke me up but good and scared the crap out of poor Torbie.   She ran and hid.  She even hid during my nap today.  We live out in the county and people are allowed to do this. 

I can see why my dog-loving Facebook friends get so angry about fireworks during holidays.  I don't set off any fireworks myself, these days.  Years ago I realized they were freaking out poor Bubba and I didn't want that.  So, I don't. 

It had nothing to do with the fact (if you are a former member of LCF you may recall this) that Ron always seemed to set his hair on fire.  He would hold the firecracker fuse next to his head, but he has frizzy hair.  He would just as often light his hair, as the fuse.  Then he would have to put the fire out, drop the lighter and firecrackers, etc.  He wasn't drinking like he is now. 

At the time, I thought it was funny, and figured if Ron is man enough to pay the mortgage he is man enough to light his own fireworks, if that's what he wants.  Others didn't agree and actually threatened to report me to adult protective services.  It got crazy.  Most people felt I was abusive. 

I wonder what they would say about my life now. 

That's one thing that bothers me, when I talk about Ron's drinking people always assume I am helping him get the alcohol.  I don't.  He calls the liquor store and has them put it on hold.  Then he calls Chuck to go pick it up for him, and bring it to the house.  Chuck brings it into the garage.  Ron pays him.  Chuck leaves.  When Ron wants vodka, he goes in the garage and gets it.  I have NOTHING to do with it. 

All I will do is sit nearby, sometimes, and make sure the cats don't get out.  That's it, and that's serving my interests, not his. 

So, I slept badly and got up at 5 AM.  I took my shower, so glad I had already shaved my legs.  I got dressed, made sure Ron looked OK, and ate my protein bar.  I washed it down with a diet Mountain Dew (my new "perfect combination" = Diet Mountain Dew and Wellbutrin).  Off to work, it was a nice driver. 

Lately, everyone's been asking why Ron is back in the wheelchair.  He is in the wheelchair, and out of it.  It took me a while to accept that.  Right now he is "in" the chair.  I hope he does recover to the point of not needing any assistive devices, but I will take care of him while he does. 

We got into work.  The door on Snack #1 is broken, I could barely get it closed on Saturday.  It sticks about halfway closed, and I prayed, then gave it a mighty shove, and got it done.  It's a good thing, our ride was already outside waiting for us. 

We didn't touch the machine, it has enough inventory to look OK for a while, I just stocked it on Saturday.  Instead, I focused on the other machines, stuffing them with good things. 

I got the sandwich delivery, he is calling my phone now instead of Ron's (I had him do that, last week, when Ron was "sick").  My phone got a text from the cell phone provider saying they got my money.  Good.  They are a good company but I have had problems with billing. 

Ron called our repairman, who could not come today.  [bad word]  I caught Ron with his key in hand, rolling up on Snack #1.  I started yelling "No, no no!".  A postal worker was walking by and thought I was talking to him.  I reminded Ron we are not opening the machine.  He wanted to get quarters out for the bill changer.  He decided to get quarters out of the change buckets and sort them for quarters, then put those quarters in the coin sorter.  I got the nickels and used that to help fill the change bank in #1, I put in 20 nickels and "bought" an empty $1 coil.  Unlike my "smart vend" vending machines, #1 will vend whatever you tell it to. 

That done, we were finished.  I helped Ron do his bottled and canned soda.  We needed 5 cases just of bottled drinks. 

We went out and came home.  I took a nap, Torbie was too scared to sleep with me so she hid in my closet.  I talked to her and she moved around some, on top of the dresser (I took the doors off the closet, put my dresser in there, and hung my shirts on the rod above the dresser).  She did come out after I got up and slept by my foot for a while, while I was on the computer. 

I tinkered with the blog until I was somewhat happy (sorry about all those annoying labels, but at least I got my slideshow and the old pageview back). 

Now I'm going to do my God Time.  I was going to be lazy but I read something about witches doing "binding rituals" on the president.  Regardless of what you think politically, or spiritually, that is spiritual warfare.  I would be a pretty lousy soldier if I didn't pray for all involved. 

Tomorrow should be pretty quiet, we are just going to Walmart.  Hopefully I will sleep better tonight. 

Lazy Sunday

Today was pretty quiet. 

I slept in until 8:30.  I woke up at 7:30 but spent and hour in bed lounging with Biscuit and Torbie.  They are pretty special cats. 

Then I got up and fed them.  I took a shower, did my God Time, etc.  Ron got drunk and kept interrupting me during my God Time, but I got it done. 

He has been very affectionate today.  We'll see how things go tomorrow. 

I ate a can of spaghettios, the Walmart brand is pretty good.  It doesn't come in a runny sauce.  I took a nap for a couple of hours. 

I really need to strip my sheets, they are coming off the bed.  Then I need to wash them.  I don't remember the last time I washed my sheets. 

I am doing a load of laundry right now, I will wash it tonight and finish it tomorrow night.  It's too hot to run the dryer right now and I need to go to bed early (7). 

I did find something interesting: taking the Children's Claratin makes me a lot more alert.  It was pretty hard for me to take my nap today, I felt so perky. 

I'm not really wild about using one chemical, albeit a legal, OTC, chemical, to counteract the negative side effects of my medication, but I can use this on days like MRI day, when I most assuredly will not be getting a nap. 

Off I go, sorry I'm not more scintillating.  I need to call my Dad. 

They are having my primary abuser's son over to "visit", ice cream, amusement parks, etc.  As you can imagine it's a little weird for me. 

Edit to add, the guy who brings Ron's alcohol sent me a text wondering how he was.  Why not just call Ron direct? 

Some kind of game.  I had Ron call him and leave a very coherent voicemail. 

Dark days

Yesterday I took Ron to work.  He did a pretty good job, stocking.  I stocked my end of things, we got our delivery, etc.  I got up at 3 AM to get ready for work, our driver came at 4. 

While at work, I had a funny encounter.  Work recently hired a bunch of temporary workers.  One of them came up to me asking for change. 

I asked "For what?", meaning, tell me the denomination. 

"To buy something" he replied. 

"What kind of bill do you have?" I finally asked more specifically, then he told me.  We don't make change on anything larger than a $20.  It can be annoying, people come to me, they want "custom" change ("I want a ten, and a five, and five ones....").  I'm not a banker, I'm a vendor.  I have $1 bills, that's it.  If you don't want $1 bills don't bother me. 

Happily we were all done before the pickup time so we could leave.  We came home, I took a nap.  We went to the pupusa place. 

While there, Ron called our handyman about pressure washing the driveway.  He said he would come right over.  OK. 

It took him a while but he did it.  It looks very good, the homeowner's association should be happy for a while.  It's Ron's fault.  When he called them about the tree getting trimmed he was hostile and combative.  I bet they couldn't wait to make us jump through more hoops after that.  I told Ron not to call them this time.   He agreed. 

Today it rained in the morning, when we went to the warehouse, when we were loading the truck, and more importantly, when I was unloading it.  Jack thought the rain would be a problem, I told him it wasn't.  I have done this before.  Happily, I have never had to unload the truck, in the rain, in the winter.  That would really suck.  This was nothing. 

My hair stayed wet, though, from the time I washed it to the time I woke up from my nap.  I had some work to do today, so I did that.  Ron had very little to do and spent his time sorting change. 

Ron has been bitter, negative, needy, demanding, and hostile.  He is just a miserable person to be around, right now.  I thank God for my antidepressants or he would undoubtedly "poison" me with his toxic negativity.  

Thank God for the cats.  Torbie slept with me last night, Biscuit laid next to the shower the last couple days when I was bathing, Biscuit also dances on me in bed when my alarm goes off (but only when the alarm goes off), Torbie got in my lap, Biscuit got in my lap, and Baby Girl was her usual cute self.  They are some very nice bright spots in some pretty dark days. 

I also downloaded the Blogger app and put that on my cell phone, if something happens I can post immediately.  It could also come in handy if Ron ever carries through on his threats to turn off my internet (but we need it for work).  I was happy I figured it out, I hadn't been able to do that the last time I tried. 

He hasn't been complaining about pain but he's been sleeping a lot, keeping the air conditioner at very cold levels, to me.  He gets angry if I adjust the thermostat but I don't think it's fair for him to set it so cold it literally wakes me up, shivering.  And how stupid is it to put a heavy blanket on the bed in the middle of summer?  That's just wasteful. 

He has been weaker but I guess that is to be expected since he basically spent the week in bed, drinking and taking OTC remedies.  His latest is Benadryl, even though they say don't take it with alcohol, what does he do?  "Because I sleep so well, when I do".  One night he's going to have a stroke or something, doing all this, if he doesn't kill himself. 

Sorry to be writing such black posts.  My readership is way down.  I don't think I would want to read me right about now but I appreciate those of you who do. 

I could use your prayers. 

Black cloud of doom

Ron has been in a particularly bad mood all day.  I asked him "Are you going to be like this forever?". He said yes.  I couldn't believe it! 

BTW, I am writing this from the blogger mobile app.

Every damn day, as directed

"I went off my cholesterol pills" the driver told us "Because they mad me tired.  I couldn't live like that.  Who could live like that? " 

Ron agreed with her and they continued their conversation.  I just sat in my seat, steaming, trying to keep my mouth shut. 

The day started off pretty good.  We got up, I took my shower and did most of my God Time, waited on our ride to pick us up.  The tropical storm went to the east of us, and we barely had any rain, much less flooding.  So I was glad we had made a trip to go out just in case. 

After the week I had, I wanted to go out and relax, without paying for a cab.  Ron was in pretty good shape, he had taken all his Benadryl so he didn't sleep, but other than that he seemed OK.  Certainly able to work tomorrow (we already made the trips). 

The driver picked us up and began talking about the cholesterol pills and the side effects.  I was dying to say something like "If you didn't like your cholesterol, why didn't you eat better?"  Instead, she whined, moaned, and carried on like a woman in labor talking about her minor fatigue issue. 

You want to throw down about side effects?  Let's do that.  Let's do that here. 

1. Migraines
2. Chronic daily headaches in addition to migraines.
3. Extreme fatigue, need a lot of sleep every night and ideally a nap during the day. 
4. Shaking hands.  Sometimes I can't even feed myself. 
5. Dizziness. 
6. Dry mouth and extreme thirst, to the point I am drinking 2-3 gallons of fluid a day. 
7. Brain fog, attacks of the stupids. 
8. Hard time finding the right word sometimes. 
9. Hyopoanatremia. 
10. 80 pound weight gain and trouble losing it. 
11. Decreased heat tolerance. 

I could go on, but you get the idea.  I get really angry at people who bitch about minor side effects from optional drugs, when I am stuck with major side effects from necessary drugs.  I don't want to take all this crap, I really don't. 

And what the hell is this?  Twice in the last month I have had drivers tell me they hallucinate.  What are they doing driving?  Why are they not medicated?  They want to know what I'm taking, I tell them, but I can't help but think WTF?

Ron likes to gossip about my issues, I am OK with that.  I am all for education.  However, it becomes alarming when I have drivers saying "Me too" and wanting to take Haldol. 

I know maybe God sent me to them so they could get on Haldol.  Haldol is a front line treatment for mental illness.  In generic form, it is very cheap.  It is highly effective. 

A lot of doctors push the new stuff like Risperidal, which didn't work for me, at least not well.  It was also, at the time, extremely expensive at $240 a month.  One other drug, Abilify, was connected to compulsive gambling.  Scary stuff. 

I'll take my old school drugs and old school side effects.  I feel a lot safer taking that, even though I am at risk for a brain syndrome that could literally fry my brain, taking lithium and Haldol together.  I certainly don't drink, taking it. 

At any rate, I was, and am, upset about it.  It just wasn't fair.  There are billions of people out there not compelled to take medication, cough up large chunks of their pay, and endure side effects.  To hear them whine about what it's like to be 1/10 me is just painful. 

She dropped us off.  We went to the Kolache factory and I got some cream cheese.  Then I took Ron to Subway.  They had the meatballs this time, so he got one.  As before, I had them put onions on top of the meatballs before they put it in the toaster oven.  Ron likes that. 

Then we went to Starbucks.  I got a hot chocolate and ate one of my kolaches, saving the rest for later.  I ate them at home, with a Diet Dr Pepper, and a large handful of medication.   Every damn day, as directed. 

Our ride home came pretty quick.  She had a lot of Walmart trips after us, I thought that was interesting.  We had a straight trip home. 

I ate my kolaches, took my pills, and went to bed.  I was pretty tired.  I slept a couple hours and woke up having a nightmare.  I got up. 

I finished my God Time, rolled down the exterior blinds, etc.  I cleaned out my email, that one took a while.  So much junk, but I have had the email address for 19 years.  I guess it's to be expected. 

Then I watched a little TV.  Now I need to eat a quick snack and go to bed.  I have to get up at 2 AM tomorrow. 

God willing, I will fall asleep fast and sleep hard.  I hope I get Torbie in my bed like I did last night, and during my nap. 

I always sleep better with Torbie. 

Better but not great

Last night was horrible, Ron kept groaning, it was pretty awful. 

When I went to bed last night, I didn't set an alarm, I resolved to get up when I got up and get my full sleep.  A little hard to do that with the groaning. 

This morning, Ron was doing better and more alert.  I talked him into taking a Neurontin.  I saw a pretty dramatic improvement in him after that but he just said it was a little better. 

I also found an empty can of spaghettios with meatballs on the kitchen counter, so he was eating again.  Good.  I figured if I put it out he would eat it. 

I called a cab (Ron gave me more money) and I went to work.  I had another nice Nigerian guy.  If you took all the Nigerian guys out of the fleet, you wouldn't have a fleet.  I like them, they are hard workers, good customer service, good drivers, etc. 

I went into work.  I took the carts out and did my snacks.  That took a while.  Then I did Ron's inventory because he kept bugging me for it.  I texted it to him.  At home, he calculated what we needed.  He called me back, upset, because we didn't need 30 cases. 

I reminded him, as far as I knew, our contract said we had to order 30 cases a month.  It didn't say anything about a minimum case order.  Why didn't he call our sales rep and find the minimum? 

He did that, and texted me we only needed a 10 case minimum.  He called in the order. 

I started working on stocking the canned sodas.  I stocked about 10 cases.  Not much, but better than nothing.  That's $108 in profit. 

Done with canned sodas, I had to do my most hated job: mashing up the cardboard boxes for the recycling.  Ron normally does this.  Boy, I missed him while I ripped and squashed each individual box.  Plastic wrappers (from the Coke products) went into the plastic recycling bin. 

Finally mostly done, I stashed the rest on a cart to mash up Friday.  I will have plenty of time. 

Last but not least, the bottled vendor needed 4 cases of drinks.  I got warm drinks and put them on the cart, then took them to the fridge.  I took the cold drinks out of the fridge and put them on the cart, then replaced them with the warm drinks.  Then I took the cold drinks right back to the bottled vendor and stocked them. 

I hate doing the Coke products, because they have rings on the drinks.  It is hard to pull the drinks apart.  The other products don't do that, but one time, when I dropped a case of tea, the plastic ripped and I had 24 teas all over the ground.  That was a mess. 

I got it all stocked.  Finally done.  Ron normally does the drinks. 

He kept calling me and texting me while I worked, but he sounded good.  You know how someone sounds so weak when they are in a lot of pain?  I didn't hear that.  He was also very alert. 

I found that encouraging.  I knew he had to snap out of it sometime. 

He asked me where he money went in his wallet, I told him he gave it to me for cab fare.  Speaking of, I needed a ride home. 

He called Roy, who was 20 minutes away.  Then he called Lou, who was 10 minutes away.  He cancelled with Roy (I wouldn't have done that) and had Lou get me instead. 

I got home pretty quickly.  I took a nap, but Ron's alarm woke me up.  I wasn't too happy about that, I told him next time he wants to set an alarm, set one on his cell phone.  He agreed. 

I got up and brought in the garbage can.  Then I checked the mail.  We used 2000 gallons on the water bill, same as every month.  It's funny when you think how much water that is all in one place, but then when you think about showers, laundry, toilets flushing, it adds up.  I have been told 2K is on the low side for an American family of 2. 

That reminds me, I probably need to fill up the cats' water bowl.  They have been drinking a lot of water in this heat. 

I have tomorrow off but I have to go to bed early so I can get up early Friday morning for my Dr Pepper delivery.  I hope Ron is well enough to assist me.  We can't afford all these cabs. 

I don't think the bus runs, either, when I'd need it on Friday. 

Edit: apparently Ron didn't take the Neurontin today.  He is in the kitchen slamming back shots in the kitchen right now. 

Caregiver burnout

Last night Ron told me I was on my own if I wanted to go to Walmart today.  He gave me some money and told me to get a cab, he didn't want to go. 

This morning I got up around 7:30.  Biscuit was in my bed with me, and so was Torbie.  It was really nice snuggling with the two cats.  I had a mild headache so I got up. 

I used the bathroom and took some aspirin.  I fed them wet food, but Biscuit was sitting on the bucket of dry, denying me access.  I fed them some dry later.  Torbie loves dry food. 

I took my shower and did my God Time, then called Lou the Cab Driver to take me to Walmart.  He was happy for the trip.  I like to think it's because I treat him with respect and tip pretty well. 

I got to Walmart, I had some interesting things on my list, protein bars, vitamin A, canned food (in case the tropical thing comes to visit, and it's a good idea to have canned food on hand anyway), ant baits, and cat food. 

I got everything on my list.  I thought it was cute, we had 2 other cat ladies and a cat guy on the cat food aisle.  I had to ask the cat guy to move so I could access the Fancy Feast Salmon pate.  They sure love that stuff. 

I got some other stuff, chips, ice cream, basically comfort food for me.  I hadn't eaten yet so I went to McDonald's after paying.  I bought Ron a burger and got myself some chicken nuggets.  I ate the nuggets there and took my medication. 

I did get a little queasy afterward, so I think I need to do nuggets + something else, a shake, some fries or something.  I hate it when I get queasy. 

I ended up eating a bag of peanut butter M&M's and that worked just fine. 

I called Lou back, he could come and get me.  I had asked him to try if he could. 

Yay!  I wouldn't get stuck at Walmart with all my stuff, like I did that one time.  Chuck's truck is in the shop so I wouldn't have that option, this time. 

I came home and put my stuff away, Ron was semi-awake.  He had a bottle of vodka in his bed.  He was using his back massager to "vibrate" his legs and Baby Girl was sleeping with him. 

I thought it was pretty cute.  I tried to give Ron his hamburger and he threw it on the bed, yelling that he was deleting files.  OK.  Not sober, or nice, burger is going in the fridge.  He has to sober up some time. 

I put his Spaghettios with meatballs in front of the microwave so he has something to eat, if he ever decides to eat. 

I took a nap, Ron was pretty quiet. 

I made the mistake of telling him I was awake, when I got up.  I had planned to clean up because tonight is garbage eve.  The trash collectors come tomorrow so I can fill up that garbage can with all my unwanted stuff.  I was really going, too. 

But Ron kept interrupting me every 30 seconds, it seemed, yelling gibberish and making demands.  One of which was for me to find his bottle of vodka and put it in his hand.  I told him "You know I won't do that". 

He yelled he was in pain, but he sounded more drunk than anything.  I am absolutely certain the medical profession can provide Ron with a painkiller that will serve him better than alcohol.  I didn't say that, he wasn't rational enough to hear it.  He went off on me, lots of verbal abuse, name calling, threatening to divorce me, etc.  Calling me fat.  He did that, a lot. 

That, I don't really take personally because I am overweight.  It's like calling me someone who wears glasses.  Of course I am. 

At any rate, I didn't respond so he eventually wore down.  He fell asleep.  He is sleeping right now, I will enjoy it while it lasts. 

I just hope he doesn't do the yelling for me every 2 minutes thing tonight when I am trying to sleep.  I will yell at him if he does that. 

Oh, I feel like a poster child for caregiver burnout. 

Is he trying to kill himself?

Ron had a bad night and woke me up this morning, telling me he would not be able to work.  Leg pain?  Drunk?  Or both?  I don't know.  I reset my alarm from 4 AM to 5 and went back to sleep.  I assume Ron cancelled the rides to and from work. 

I got up at 5 and took my shower.  I ate some breakfast and took my medication, put on my badge and keys (I wear them on a lanyard around my neck), got my shoes on, etc. 

I called Yellow cab around 6:40 and they said they had two drivers in the area.  A couple minutes later, a man with an African accent called me to let me know he was about 20 minutes away.  Good. 

He showed up right around 7 and I left. 

Ron woke up at a later point and called Lou the cab driver, and was apparently pretty ugly asking/demanding he pick me up.  He didn't realize I had already left.  Ron was asleep when I left, I didn't see the point in waking him. 

I later told Lou that "Vodka helps with the leg pain, he says, but it doesn't do a thing for his manners". 

What else could I say?  Sorry he was an asshole? 

So, I got to work.  I had him let me out in visitor parking.  They were doing a training today so a lot of newbies wandering around. 

I went over to our area and started pulling carts out of the stockroom.  I saw Mike, but none of the other vendor's people.  Mike and I are very friendly.  He has a couple cats.  I told him Ron was laid up with his leg and left it at that.  I know whatever I tell Mike goes to the other vendor. 

I got stocking on my machines.  We had only been gone one day, Father's Day at that, and a lot of people took the day off or brought their own lunch.  I stocked what needed work. 

Sandwiches called and I got them.  Then I stocked them.  I had to pay the guy in $1 bills but he was OK with that.  He's a nice guy. 

Someone walked by, lamenting the lack of honeybuns.  I stocked those. 

Then I did sodas.  They didn't need much work because yesterday was slow.  I only stocked a couple of cases, RC Cola is always popular, as well as DR Pepper. 

I just turned on "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Ozbourne.  Spellchecker doesn't like Ozzy.  I feel like I'm on an out of control crazy train headed for a cliff. 

Then I did the bottled vendor.  I never use algebra in my daily life, and boy I had trouble with algebra.  Here's a little puzzle I had today:

If I have 10 empty slots, at 8 bottles each, how many bottles of water can I stock? 

80. 

If the case has 28 bottles, how many cases can I stock? 

3.  (I had some extra space)

So I did that.  Everything was working great when I left.  I ate an egg salad sandwich sometime in there, and Mike and I chatted for a little bit.  I asked Henry about his sick cat, she is a lot better.  I was really happy to hear that.  All this after I finished my work. 

I went to the bathroom and called Lou, who was "up in Humble".

Ron had been texting me, periodically.  I found the "Syrup tastes like yuk" Syrup?  What the hell was he doing? 

I called him.  "Oh, I found some cough syrup?"  I told him to go easy on it, not to take any alcohol or Tylenol with it because "It already has it".  He said OK. 

I mean, how do you deal with this, a man who seems bent on "accidentally" killing himself?   This on top of my own baggage.  It's an incredible load. 

The next message Ron sent was gibberish so I called him, he was just very groggy.  He had, in a previous text, asked me to buy him some fries, so I had Lou go through a drive through.  I got us each an order of chicken nuggets and an order of fries for Ron.  I should have asked Lou if he wanted something. 

I got home OK and exited the cab with my stuff.  I had brought home a piece of cardboard from work. 

Probably TMI, if this will upset you just scroll to the next paragraph.  Anyway, I have a litter box in pretty much every room of the house.  I try to put cardboard underneath them to catch the litter.  Torbie had a little accident on the cardboard under "her" box so I had to get rid of it, but I needed a replacement cardboard.  I got one at work today and brought that home to put under her litter box.  One thing I have is access to cardboard. 

I went in the house.  Ron was alive, but very groggy.  I tried to feed him the fries while they were hot, but he wasn't interested.  I put his food in the fridge. 

I decided to eat my food and take my pills.  I did that.  Then I took a nap.  What else could I do? 

I woke up with a mild to moderate headache.  The aspirin did a good job on it.  Ron finally woke up, I asked him if he wanted to see his doctor tomorrow.  "No".  He asked me if I wanted any trips.  I told him I need to go to Walmart and get some ant baits because they are pretty bad in the house.  He said he would send me in a cab. 

What happened to "I can get in my wheelchair"?  I don't want to spend $30 round trip on a cab to Walmart.  Maybe I can call Chuck. 

I told him about the food, he decided he would eat one chicken nugget.  I took the sauces (they all have metal backing on them and would probably blow up the microwave) off the plate so Ron can just nuke it when he does get hungry.  I gave Ron his chicken nugget. 

Ron lost his phone.  I called it and helped him find it.  I checked my voicemail.  Something about a 25K contest I was winning.  I deleted it. 

Is "7" the delete button for all voicemails? 

I feel like I'm being run through a wringer, but my mood is OK considering.  I am listening to Dubstep remixes now on Youtube and finding them interesting.  They would be good for working out on a treadmill. 

Or, my personal favorite, the stairclimber. 

Vodka and Tylenol

Ron is teaching me to live without him. 

Allow me to explain, I have had a fire ant issue in my bedroom.  They get in my clothes and bite me (ever had a fire ant in your bra?), or bite me when I step on them, walking around (that, I understand).  Last night they were particularly bad. 

I broke organic training (as a rule, I don't use chemicals in the yard) for fire ants.  I used some sweet-smelling "Ortho" product, and some rubber gloves to protect my hands from the pesticide.  If people actually read the label on their pesticides, they would never use them.  So, I did that.  I even put some pesticide on a paper plate, on their "highway" so hopefully the ones in my bedroom will die faster. 

Ron lived through the night.  Drinking alcohol right after the pain reliever (that didn't work) wore off didn't kill him.  He swears the only thing that works on his leg pain is vodka and Tylenol.   I am sure the Tylenol people are just curdling over this, you don't mix alcohol and Tylenol!  Ever!  He made messes, he made noise, he woke me up repeatedly but he wasn't abusive.  Yes, he was.  Doing all that is abusive.  He didn't castigate me. 

I got up and took my shower.  I did my God Time, as Ron interrupted me repeatedly while drinking yet more vodka. 

The other day, Ron told me he was proud of the fact that he sent Chuck out after a case of vodka as opposed to a bottle.  It's not "cool", it's not "manly", it's very, very, sad. 

Today has just been totally depressing, and I don't mean because I have depression.  It's just awful to watch this slow spiral.  Horrible to watch him clutching after Vodka bottles and becoming this angry, negative, thing.

Ron went to bed and slept for several hours.  I poisoned the fire ants, cleaned the front room, cleaned Torbie's litter box, did up my medication, ate, and took my pills.  Then I tried to take a nap but I couldn't sleep. 

I got up.  Biscuit was still sleeping on my bathrobe, looking adorable.  He is just so cute.  He has a thin coat of fur, that's just how God made him.  I guess he's more of a Houston cat.  He was rolling around on my foot and letting me pet him earlier. 

Ron got up and got not one, but two bottles of vodka from the garage.  "Why fool around?" he says. 

At least he is heating up something to eat; my psychiatrist told me if people drink without eating afterwards, it is easier for them to develop cirrhosis. 

Assuming we don't have it already. 

When Ron goes back to bed I will call my Dad.  I will not call my Dad with drunk Ron in the background interrupting and trying to steal the conversation.  It also keeps me from saying, outright, Ron was very drunk all day, how are you doing? 

Ugh.  My life.  That's the one thing I always swore to myself, that I would never marry an alcoholic. 

Two days in one, again

Friday: I took Ron to the doctor.  Our ride was late and we were very nearly late as well. 

Ron handed over his Medicare card and ID, which they photocopied.  Then they gave the cards back, and back into the wallet.  We waited for a while and they did Ron's vitals.  His blood pressure was 138 over something reasonable.  His weight is still right around 150. 

Then they sent us back to the waiting room.  We waited almost an hour, then they took us back to an exam room.  We waited there almost an hour before we saw Doc. 

Ron explained he is having extreme pain in his left wrist, and his left leg.  Ron also divulged he is an alcoholic.  I was proud of him for admitting it but sad he had to do it.  I feel he will get much more accurate, and better, medical care as a result.  Doc sent Ron for X-rays of his wrist and leg, and wrote a prescription for pain medicine. 

We had to wait about another hour on our ride to Walmart.  I had been battling a migraine all morning but I took a Phenergan and that took most of the edge off.  I also, when I got home, put the aspirin into my fannypack so I have it when I need it. 

We finally got to Walmart.  I turned in the prescription, they said it would be a $4 one.  This is one reason we really like Doc.  He understands not everyone has a bottomless wallet.  He also takes however much time he needs to deal with the issue, whatever it is.  He's a good doc. 

I picked up a few things and made Ron hold them in his lap, then we went back to the pharmacy and paid for our prescriptions (mine, and his).  My 4 were all one-month prescriptions.  It's a little annoying but a lot cheaper in the short run.  Ron paid for my pills, which I appreciate as I had to deposit over $400 into my account for my health insurance. 

And I don't even use it. 

We came home around 5.  I was totally exhausted.  I ate something and went straight to bed. 

I woke up this morning, still tired.  I reset my alarm so I got some more sleep time.  I finally got up and did my usual morning routine, except for my God Time. 

We went to the warehouse.  I bought the supplies we needed (not much, in the snack department), and got everything into the building. 

We stocked and I put the water in the fridge, and in the stockroom.  I helped Ron with his drinks, and finished all my work. 

I actually had a little extra time at the end of it all.  That was nice to sit down and have a cold drink. 

We came home.  I took a nap, Torbie joined me.  She is doing really well, fiending for treats, being a sweet girl, and, last night, fighting with Baby Girl. 

My alarm went off and I reset it.  I was really tired.  I also had a headache so I took some aspirin.   I got up and got dressed; Ron and I were going to the BBQ place. 

In fact, I discovered the paratransit vehicle already in our driveway.  Ron finally decided to try taking the new pain medication.  As it turns out, it didn't work for him. 

When the medication has worn off, Ron has decided to get "blind" drunk and take Tylenol instead.  Not what I would do, but then again, it's not my leg, either. 

Ron just doesn't respond to some pain medications, like Morphine or Dilaudid.  They just don't touch it at all.  Whereas something like Tylenol or Oxycodone (he was given that for his back, at the rehab hospital), do, with minimal side effects. 

He's going to try some leftover Tylenol #3 (from his root canal) and see if that helps, if it does he can ask for some on Monday.  Doc seems pretty accommodating and seems to understand that Ron will not drink if he is taking hard core painkillers, he understands he could have a breathing arrest or worse. 

So, we went to the BBQ place.  It was fine except for the guy behind me in line.  He kept crowding up behind me (the BBQ is served cafeteria-style) in line.  At one point, Ron asked me a question, at the same time the guy behind me asked me a question.  I said "No" to Ron. 

The guy behind me got all upset.  I told him "I was talking to my husband".  Then he asked me, as he crowded up behind me again, if he could go around us. 

"Go ahead" I told him with sarcasm "You seem to be in a big hurry.". 

"No, I'm not" he replied. 

I scoffed, and he got back in line behind me, this time keeping a polite distance from my butt!   I heard him mutter "Asshole" under his breath, which I find kind of funny. 

Wouldn't I be a "Bitch?" 

We paid and one of the employees took the tray of food to the table.  We had a good time eating. 

We had a good ride home and I got some laundry together to wash tomorrow.  I need to take the old sheet off the couch (it is black, and covered in white cat hair), get rid of it, and put the new sheet (a plaid with white, gray, and blue) on the couch instead. 

I have found it better to have sheets and towels on furniture because I always seem to have at least one pukey cat at any given moment.  Right now, that's Biscuit.  Bubba was a big puker too, but it never slowed him down. 

Now, if Torbie gets sick I know I have a problem.  Baby Girl will vomit the rare hairball now and then. 

I hope I didn't ruin your dinner.  At any rate, I have tomorrow off, not going anywhere, if I have a little energy I can work on cleaning up the house. 

I plan to fill up the garbage can with unwanted stuff at least one time a week.  That's about 2-3 standard sized "black" trashbags (33 gallon) a week, in addition to the household stuff (about 30 gallons, tops). 

I also need to clean Torbie's litter box in here.  She loves the box but I need to dump it, scrub it out, and fill it up with clean litter. 

Hopefully I will also work in some actual relaxing on my day off, as well. 

Scrubbing my husband

I think fireants are getting in my bedroom.  I'm pretty sure one bit me this morning after my alarm went off; kind of an alarm adjunct.  "Get up, Heather!"  I'm up, I'm up. 

I took my shower, happy I didn't have to shave my legs, and got dressed.  We went to work. 

I found a very large, very rude, note on Snack one blabbering about how it had "taken his dollar" and "(I'd) better fix it".  Why didn't he just call the number we have posted? 

The final insult, for me, was when I tested Snack one and found out it was working perfectly.  I finally figured out Snack three had taken his money.  Why would you put a note on a machine that didn't rip you off? 

Needless to say, sales in Snack 1 were not good.  I got all my stuff out and stocked.  Snack 2 did far better than usual, it didn't have a note, and it was accepting dollars. 

When a vending machine "takes" your dollar (as in, it accepts the bill but doesn't register it), it shuts down the bill acceptor.  The bill acceptor won't take any more dollars until I get in there and fish out the "bad" bill.  Once I've done that, it will work beautifully again.  The food machine is bad about doing that sometimes.  Generally not snacks. 

At any rate, I filled them all up.  They looked really good when I left. 

At one point, while Ron was stocking the bottled vendor, a woman extended a dollar at him and asked for a bottle of water (that's our going rate).  Ron just sat there, blind, in his wheelchair. 

I told her "He's blind" and she gave me the money instead.  Between us, if you want to give Ron money you have to put it in his hand. 

Ron didn't need to do much, either, and when we counted this week's money the take was about half what it was last week, so we really could afford to take 2 days off. 

We came home and I ate a snack, took my pills, and then took a nap.  Torbie joined me.  I had to keep turning up the thermostat, Ron had it really cold in here.  I like it more around 80 degrees, but most people in Houston like it at 65 to 70. 

I think Ron turns the thermostat down when he is drinking, because the alcohol makes him feel hot. 

I woke up a little before 4.  Ron was getting vodka and I wanted to make sure the cats didn't get out.  I did that, Ron came in the house lugging a 2 liter bottle of vodka, which he set up on the counter and began drinking. 

He then told me he had severe leg pain during my nap and had made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow.  Nice of him to consult, but he did "let" me sleep. 

I told him he should track how much he is drinking so he can answer the doctor when he asks the question.  Ron said he wasn't interested in that, probably because he would be horrified at the final daily total.  And his doctor would be horrified, too. 

He's actually "our" doctor, he is my primary doc even though I have never seen him yet.  Well, I've seen him, but not under my insurance.  I am skeptical. 

I forgot to mention, yesterday the intern asked if I was in therapy.  I told her no.  God knows I could probably use it. 

Anyway, I told Ron he needs to take a bath tonight so he won't freak out the doctor tomorrow.  He is doing that right now. 

I have a load of clothes in the dryer, including new shirts for him.  I got some nice pocket t-shirts for him about a week ago and put them in the to-be-washed pile.  I finally got to that last night. 

Ron's in the bath right now, he looks sparkling clean so we shouldn't have any issues at the doctor tomorrow.  I had to help scrub him, which I don't mind, and he was very appreciative. 

So, tomorrow is yet another day off when I'm not really off.  Yes, I will whine. 

I hope I sleep well tonight. 

"Full Blown Alcoholic"

Ron didn't want to go with me to my doctor today.  He decided to pay for a cab to take me, instead. 

My aunt couldn't help me because she is moving, so I had to take the cab. 

I got up pretty early, took my shower, shaved my legs, picked out a decent outfit.  I put on my flipflops and fed the cats.  I did some of my God Time (I did the rest later). 

Lou the cab driver showed up.  He had found the place on his keymap.  A keymap is a very detailed map of Houston, each page covers about 3/4 of a mile square.  It, of course, has many pages.  Then they have overview pages.  It is very complex and an "old school" way for cab drivers to find their way around.  I am pretty sure all paratransit drivers are required to carry a keymap. 

Lou thought that Ron way paying him $X for a round trip.  He was very delighted and surprised to realize Ron was paying $X for each way.  He, of course, agreed to wait. 

We chatted about the Virginia shooting on the way over, and I told him about the maniac who shot up my Dad's office building when I was 13, and how the guy is still on death row. 

We got to the office and I exited, went into the building.  You would think patients at a mental health doctor would be strange or crazy looking, but they weren't.  I mentioned it to Lou, later, and he said "That's because they all took their pills". 

I paid my copay and went back with the intern.  I talked to her a little. 

I explained my dosing (lithium is 4 pills 1x a day rather than 1 pill, 4 times a day) and then explained my mood had been pretty good except for some depression, which I attributed to my husband's drinking. 

When Doc came in I took a harder line and explained Ron is a "full blown alcoholic".  Doc wasn't terribly surprised and said it is pretty common with people as disabled as Ron. 

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful visit. 

I made my next appointment and left.  Lou was waiting in the parking lot and got me, took me home.  I told Ron I had mentioned I felt my depression was due in part to Ron's drinking, letting him know I had told Doc he had a problem. He was a little upset but not much. 

Ron was just happy he didn't have to go with me, he kept going on about how terrible it is to ride around, etc.  I didn't get into that. 

I just took a nap.  I got up before the alarm and did my God Time, with Biscuit laying at my side.  He was laying on his back with one leg sticking up in the air.  The leg kept flopping off to the side and waking him up, so I gently held the leg for him as I did my prayer time.  Biscuit seemed to like it a lot.  He didn't move or protest. 

I finished and let his leg go, it reminded me of holding someone's hand.  I got ready; Ron wanted to go get a burger and a takeout meatball sub from Subway. 

We had a pretty good trip to get their, but Subway was out of meatballs.  We had to settle for just a burger.  I did that and took my pills. 

Then I took Ron (lots of complaining about crossing the hot parking lot) to the pet store to buy another bag of cat food.  They just finished a bag and I always like to have 3 on hand.  Now I did. 

We looked at the rescue cats, who showed a lot more interest in Ron than they had in just me by myself.  I think it was the hamburger in the back of the wheelchair.  At any rate, they all came forward in their cages, alert, watching him.  I thought it was cute. 

I like "Buddy" the best, he is a stray with a big scab on his nose, tabby and white, very cute.  But I already have enough.   Biscuit is curled up on my bathrobe, to my left, lying on the loveseat where I do my God Time.  He loves to hang out in here (computer room), and I'm happy for the company. 

We went to Starbucks and got Ron an iced latte.  He likes those, I like that he is getting some protein from the milk. 

I saw our ride and went out to it.  It was a 4-seater, and already had 2 passengers in the vehicle.  One of them kept coughing, I will be sure to take my vitamins tonight.  I swear, if an epidemic hits Houston it will go through the paratransit service like wildfire.  I wonder if the epidemiologists have considered that. 

We got home, I did a load of my laundry this time.  I ran the wash, then put the wet clothes in the dryer without turning it on.  I don't want to run the A/C and the dryer at the same time, that's just wasting money.  I will run the dryer early tomorrow morning.  It mostly has socks and underwear, stuff that doesn't have to be hung up right away like shirts and pants. 

I have to get up at 5 AM tomorrow so I will probably go to bed in about half an hour.  Doc put in my medication refills so I should be getting them tomorrow or Friday. 

I hate to run low on medication. 

It's not a will issue, it's an energy one

I'm pretty pleased with myself. 

I got up on time, took my shower, and went to Walmart. 

We paid the electric bill (overpaid it, actually, so we can skip paying next month).  The A/C has been running a lot lately so I expect our next bill will be higher than the last.  It seems like the A/C is always on, lately. 

Then I went to the pharmacy.  Remember when I found those prescription pills in my bottle of OTC painkillers?  As it turns out, the pharmacist was able to identify them as Ron's prescription from last year.  He must have put them in an empty bottle of painkillers, which I picked up. 

I feel kind of sheepish admitting it, but I actually took one, thinking they had reformulated the OTC painkillers.  Which means I took a prostate pill a week ago.  [snort]  I was having my period at the time so I sure wasn't pregnant, and it doesn't seem to have done any harm. 

The pharmacist said she would note that we got our medication mixed up.  Ooops.  I hope that doesn't get to authorities, it kind of makes us look incompetent.  I didn't tell her I took one. 

I did buy a couple more bottles of OTC painkillers. 

I didn't have much time so I left Ron up front, bought things like Diet Mountain Dew, candy for the doctor (I see him tomorrow), and a case of cat food and some little Styrofoam plates to put it on. 

I paid and we left.  Ron agreed he would pay for my medication when it came in, so that's a load off.  We didn't have to wait too long.  They are "updating the system" at the paratransit company so things have been a little tardy lately but today was OK. 

Ron started drinking, but "only had 2".  Then, hours later, he "only had 2" more.  That's what gets him, the cumulative stuff. 

I took a nap.  When I got up I de-hoarded for a while and filled up half our 95 gallon trash can.  I also got rid of a smaller size cat carrier that doesn't fit any of he cats.  It might work for a small cat of a kitten, say Baby Girl the First.  She was only about 5 pounds, fully grown.  But it's way to small for my current gang.  They need large carriers.  Yes, I could give it to someone but who?  I don't know.  It is easier just to put it out at the curb and let someone take it.  It's in perfect shape, I'm sure someone will take it. 

I was very pleased with myself.  I even cleaned off the loveseat in the front room, and that took some doing.  I found places for everything I kept, but I got rid of 95% of my stuff. 

I "let" Ron help too, for instance when I found 2 bottles of Vitamin B complex.  I asked him which one I should keep and I listened to him.  It doesn't matter to me, the bottles were identical, and I don't take enough b-vitamins (besides my daily multi) to justify keeping them both.  Besides, my vitamin box was pretty full. 

Then I took the trash out and left it next to the carrier.  If no one takes the carrier then the trash men will take it.  I won't feel bad about that. 

I always tell Ron, cleaning up is not a will issue, it's an energy one.  If I have the energy I will clean. 

When I bought the carrier, Biscuit and Gravy were a lot smaller.  In fact, Ron and I were kidding around today.  I said we should name Baby Girl "Chicken" and Biscuit could be "Dumplings".  So we would have Chicken and Dumplings.  He liked that. 

I found a dollar store laser pointer in my stash and played with the cats until it broke, then it started getting very hot to the touch.  I took the batteries out and threw it away. 

That's what you get when you buy a dollar store cat toy. 

Monday

I slept in a little this morning, and got up at 4:45 instead of 4.  I got up and took my shower, got dressed, ate my protein bar.  I took my last dose of AM pills in my pills of the week organizer. 

We went to work.  It was pretty uneventful, I didn't need to do a lot of stocking.  Even Ron didn't need to do much, he ended up running (sorting) change after the other vendor left. 

We came home, I took a nap.  Torbie slept with me some, and she slept with me last night until I fell asleep, then she left me. 

I would love it if she spent the whole night, but I'll take what I can get. 

I got up and did some of my God Time.  Ron got up, on his own. 

He wanted to get some burritos from the mall.  We did that.  When our ride pulled up the other client very rudely enquired if we would all be riding in the backseat.  No, the driver replied.  I'd be riding in the front seat.  She didn't say anything after that. 

The same driver was picking us up after we had our trip to the mall, so we got his burritos first, then got me some Chick-fil-a.  I would love to say I love the food but I just think it is "OK".  Maybe because I didn't grow up eating it, I guess. 

I ate enough to handle my pills and we came home again.  This time, the cab was empty except for us.  We made our trips for tomorrow. 

Ron ate one of his burritos and went to bed.  While he drank a lot today, he wasn't ugly with it.  

Tomorrow we just go to Walmart; and Wednesday I see my doctor.  Time for refills.  I did up my pills tonight and I am almost out. 

I'm not worried about it.  Ron complains a lot about taking me to the doctor, even though it's only 4 times a year.  I have spent a lot more time than that, at the dentist, while he had all his various procedures, but I won't remind him of that. 

My budget is toast, between the dentist and the vet, I don't have a lot of spare cash.  Ron didn't offer and I didn't ask.  I have pride. 

I am glad I will get paid before my medication comes in, because that isn't cheap. 

Here's to hoping I get a good night of sleep tonight. 

Love/Hate

Yesterday Ron couldn't stop singing my praises. 

We got up early, went to the warehouse.  The warehouse was out of the 20 ounce Ozarka bottled water cases, one of our backbone sellers.  Ron had a tantrum, the manager looked all over, but no water. 

I bought the rest of our stuff and we took Jack to work.  We arrived and unloaded the truck.  Ron found out the other warehouse had the water, and would hold some for us.  Ron texted or called Chuck, not sure which.  Chuck said he'd love to help but he was getting a little dizzy. 

Chuck is now prone to severe vertigo attacks.  He actually collapsed in a Carl's Junior parking lot one time, I thought he was having a stroke.  So that wasn't encouraging.  He said he would take one of his pills and lie down. 

I stocked, in the meantime. 

Ron decided to sort change.  The change sorter wasn't working the other day but God enabled me to fix it, saving Ron probably $150.  My set of picks and pliers are really paying off. 

Of course God gets all the credit on that, I only had a minimal idea what I was doing. 

Ron worked on sorting change while I worked.  After I finished, I couldn't get the internet on my cell phone to work.  I felt pretty baffled. 

Chuck called and said he was feeling better, and would come to get us.  I told Ron.  I put some of the carts away, but left the long folding metal handcart out where I could get it easily.  I was getting 12 cases, about 400 pounds of water, so I would need my cart. 

We went to the store.  Ron waited in the car.  I waited in line at Customer Service.  The clerk took me to a fenced-off area, guarded by a police officer with a taser.  She presented me with a flatbed cart, loaded with 10 cases of water.  I got 2 more cases and paid.  The cashier played dumb and didn't give me my change until I specifically asked for it.  I don't think she is used to a lot of cash transactions.  I did get our $6 back. 

I went back to customer service, pushing my heavy load, and asked for help with a "carryout".  Then I showed the receipt to the girl at the exit and left. 

The carryout man found me and helped me load the truck.  He got a nice tip for that. 

I got in the truck, gave Ron his change, and we headed back to work.  When we got to work, I got the handcart.  Ron got in the truck bed and shoved the cases of water towards the tailgate, and I loaded the handcart.  Then I got the handcart into our area.  I put 7 cases in the fridge and found room for the other 5, in the stockroom.  It was pretty challenging work. 

I am so glad Ron "let" me put solid rubber tires on the handcart, that made it a lot easier. 

By that time, I was pretty tired.  I had been working for a long time.  But wait, here's a customer asking for Chocolate Donuts, the one thing I didn't stock today.  I told him I would sell him off the cart because I liked him, and he was "my favorite".  I was a little loopy by then but he loved it.  He went around telling the other customers I was his favorite. 

Ron, in the meantime, was agog.  I had done so much.  I was the best.  I appreciated the appreciation, but I knew it wouldn't last long.  I told him to remember this the next time he was angry at me. 

I went home and took a nap.  Later on, I ate a hamburger and went to bed early.  I was pretty wiped out. 

I slept 12 hours, waking up with a headache.  I had to take some aspirin about 4 AM.  I woke up later, around 8, took some more aspirin, and took my shower, shaving my legs.  They needed it. 

I managed to fix my cell phone, for some reason data was turned off.  Once I turned it on again everything worked. 

We had a pickup around 10, to go to our favorite taqueria.  When we arrived, they had a sign on the door, "Closed, temporary".  Great.  More trouble with the health department or what?  So much for our romantic brunch.  The driver brought us home. 

We ordered Chinese food, which took a while to arrive.  It was delivered by a balding, middle-aged man who looked like an accountant.  I think he was a family member who got roped into making deliveries. 

We ate.  Ron likes his pork in garlic sauce, I got chicken and shrimp with cashew nuts.  It was very good. 

Pretty soon Ron started going on about that cowboy movie again.  He had given up on making me watch the whole thing, he said, but he just wanted me to watch 5 minutes.  He wanted to "share" it with me. 

I knew better.  He only wants me to watch it so I will describe the action for him.  I don't want to watch a comedy, and I sure don't want to watch a cowboy movie.  I said no and Ron started up again with the verbal abuse.  That went on for a while. 

I wanted to ask him what happened to yesterday, but figured it out: he said "I'm going to have a blackout" and went and had several more drinks of vodka. 

He "couldn't" do that if he wasn't "upset", and he had to find a reason to get upset at me.  He trotted out the movie (pardon the pun) because he knew I would say no, he could get upset, and win a free drunk. 

He did manage to get himself off to bed OK, and has been quiet, so at least I have that. 

I will be going to bed in about an hour and try to get a good night's sleep.  I hate having to work when I'm sleep deprived. 

Stacking paper

Well, the headache is gone, and I have a fat little Biscuit frolicking by my feet. 

Well he's gone now, and so is Torbie.  She was hanging out with me too.  Treat Man came along and lured them away. 

We went out for pupusas yesterday after I took a nap.  I drank a couple diet Dr Peppers.  They kept me up a little bit when I went to bed.  I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked. 

Happily, my cycle is about over, I'm always glad to see the end of that.  I need to wash my sheets (not because they are soiled, just I haven't washed them in a while). 

I think I will wash the "good" sheets, then put them on the bed until about my next cycle is due, then put the old sheet on the bed.  I have had to figure all this on my own. 

At any rate, I got up, groggy, for work this morning.  I had to get up at 2, but I got up at 3 instead.  I took my shower and got dressed. 

Ron was sober, and awake.  It's funny that sober is a synonym for "somber" but he was just his normal self, giving the cats too many treats.  I worry he will take the cats' hard-earned weight loss as a challenge to make them gain it back, by overfeeding them treats. 

First world problems. 

I ate my protein bar and took my medication.  Our ride came and we had a straight trip to work. 

Work was pretty uneventful.  They sent our soda on 2 separate trucks, one for the other vendor, and one for us.  She (the other vendor's wife) theorizes that they send her order on the big truck because she orders an entire pallet.  Could be. 

We don't, we had a smaller order and we were actually short a couple of cases.  Ron had me write a check, I did. 

I mailed our percentage check to the state program, so they are all set, too.  Every month we are required to file a report, and mail them a check. 

One guy came by and looked at my roll of stamps, making some comment about them.  Then, later on, I heard him say to another person "You know I'm greedy, I'm a greedy man".  I'll say, coveting our stamps, of all things? 

It made me very cautious when I had to do the "pull", take the money out of the vending machines.  They are stacks of $1 bills, with the very rare $5.  It looks like a lot, but it really isn't.  First, it's $1 bills.  If I give you your pay in $1 bills it's going to look very impressive. 

One day we teased the dentist when Ron had his root canal.  Just as a joke, we brought $100 packs of $1 bills and stacked them up on the counter.  It looked like a lot of money, and it was.  Their eyes bugged out and they started stammering.  Eventually we told them we were kidding and took them pack, paying in $20's. 

Anyway, a stack of $1's looks like a lot of money.  In fact, on some TV shows they will show someone running $1 bills on the bill counter to denote "wealth".  It's not, it's $100, but it's cheaper for the budget of the TV show. 

People don't realize half our money goes to inventory, and another big chunk goes to taxes.  So we don't get to keep much of what we make. 

They just see us "stacking paper".  Once, and only once, I actually counted the money out where the customers could see me.  I got a lot of very rude comments about how "rich" we were; this from people who make 4x my take-home. 

So, after I got the money, I went and hid in the stockroom to count it.  It was better than last week, a little less than average.  I put it in Ron's bag. 

After work, we went to the bank.  We had the same teller who shorted us the other time.  Happily, this time she got the transaction right. 

We took a cab home.  We ran through a drive-through on the way. 

I was pretty exhausted when we got home.  I ate my burger and value fries, and took my medication.  Then I went to bed. 

I didn't wake up until 4:30.  I barely have time to take care of things before I have to go back to bed. 

We work tomorrow, but it shouldn't be too bad. 

I'm tired. 

A trip to the vet

So, today was the big day. 

I had a hard time falling asleep last night but did, eventually.  I woke up utterly exhausted and hit the snooze button a few times.  But I didn't want to miss the cats' appointment so I got up and took my shower. 

After my shower, I ate my protein bar, drank a diet soda, and took my meds.  I asked Ron to start feeding the cats treats. 

Torbie arrived first, so I plucked her off and stuffed her in the big carrier.  Pretty easy work.  Baby Girl and Biscuit ran away and hid in the catio, of all places. 

I got Baby Girl next and put her in the "duffle" style carrier, it is pink.  Appropriate, I felt, for a girl cat. 

Then I got Biscuit.  He was pretty meaty and wouldn't fit in the carrier I had planned for him.  I had to give him to Ron to hold while I got the other duffle bag style cat carrier.  I got him stuffed. 

They all began singing a song of protest at their confinement right about the same time Chuck showed up.  I got them stuck in the back of the pickup (it has an extended cab), and we went to the vet. 

Chuck waited outside while I got the cats into the exam room.  It was apparently an exam room for dogs, it had dog magazines and dog posters on the wall.  They continued to sing their song of protest, but calmed down after the vet tech used some Feliway. 

Two young men came into the room.  They took Biscuit out, petted him, weighed him, and got his vitals.  Biscuit is a whopping 16 pounds.  Biscuit! 

This is Biscuit on Rescue Day:

 

Now he is 16 pounds.  That's good, and it's bad.  Ron needs to cut WAY back on his treats. 

 

Then the men did the same with Baby Girl.  She was good for them, too. 

 

They left. 

 

The vet came in and examined Biscuit, agreed he needed to cut back on the treats, petted him, and gave him his shots.  Biscuit went back in his carrier. 

 

Then it was Baby Girl's turn.  She did very well.  The vet was not at all concerned about the mats and said to trim out the bad ones, and to brush the ones that aren't as bad.  So I will brush her every day, and encourage Ron to do so, too. 

 

Lastly, it was Torbie's turn.  She was there for blood tests, but they weighed her too.  She is the same weight she was last week, a good thing.  They took her away for about 15 minutes.  When they came back the young man seemed very tired. 

 

I asked if she was good.  He said she was, at first.  Implied, not so good when it came to getting her blood.  All my cats get a little cranky when you want their blood.  Biscuit scratched the vet the day she did his FLV test.  He put her back in the box and we waited for the results, probably another 20 minutes. 

 

The vet came in smiling.  Good.  No kidney or liver trouble at all.  She explained the platelets were low but that could have been due to the collection process, apparently Torbie didn't bleed for them very easily.  Torbie is a totally healthy, normal, 10 year old cat.  Good!  I was very happy. 

 

Then we got everyone picked up and carried out to the lobby.  I paid for everything, it was about half a paycheck (I get paid 2x a month).  Money well spent.  I also paid Chuck, with money Ron gave me. 

 

Chuck talked to the vet for a little while, he is getting ready to adopt a dog next month (a dog he knows, from a friend).  He is very excited about it. 

 

He finished up and we left.  The cats weren't too loud on the way home, except for Biscuit.  He had a lot to say.  It's funny, they are not big "talkers" at home, unless it is feeding time or they are in a carrier.  I find that interesting. 

 

I came home and helped Ron with the monthly accounting report, we finished it and filed it online.  We will need to mail the check tomorrow.  I took a short nap and woke up with Torbie in my bed.  Hard to get up, with her there. 

 

I told Ron he needs to change his clothes and he did that.  He wanted to know why "You made a mess during your blackout". 

 

We are going out for pupusas.  Then we are going to bed early so we can get our delivery tomorrow morning.  It's going to be early.