Heading to California

We're flying out to Long Beach tomorrow to spend Christmas with Jillian's parents, and flying back on the 29th. Bowie will be at our place to take care of Wash while we're gone.

I'm looking forward to the upper 60s weather.


It's my second time flying. The first time was in 2003 for my friend Thom's wedding in Tacoma, WA.

I'm so very tired.

32, the Flu, Dad's Stroke, and JerrySpringerville

Last Monday was my 32nd birthday. We celebrated by taking advantage of a secret Black Monday sale at a comic shop and knocked a couple of Absolute editions off of my wish list. That night, we started to feel the early symptoms. Tuesday was more of the same, but Wednesday was miserable. At least Jillian didn't have a fever. Mine broke early Thanksgiving morning - and Wash decided it was the perfect time for breakfast.

For Thanksgiving, we had some fake drumsticks from May Wah, sweet potato corn bread, wild rice with cranberries & almonds, lentil loaf, mushroom gravy, roasted garlic & veggies, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, and cranberry cheesecake. We spent the rest of the day and Friday just resting.

Saturday we started to finally organize our bookshelves. We're through half of the books (not counting the comics on the shelves, they've been organized since Day One), and almost out of shelf space.

It was 2:30 AM when I realized Mom had called me multiple times, with two vague messages of "call me back, it's important!" So I called, and surprisingly, Mom was quick to answer. That morning, Dad had felt dizzy, and his left fingers were tingling, and soon had a strong headache. He told Mom to call an ambulance.

Meanwhile, his own mother was in the hospital having ten pounds of fluid drained, for the second time.

Dad was taken to the local hospital and had some tests. He had a "small" stroke. There wasn't any blood in his brain, but there was a lot of pressure on his eyes. Aside from that, Dad seemed okay; he was awake and functional. Mom said that he was in better shape than she was. The doctors had him transferred to Albany. Barring any other problems, he should be released in a few days.

Now, for the Jerry Springer part of our show:

My ex-brother-in-law is engaged to a woman who doesn't want him to have any ties to his previous life, and she doesn't know her ass from her elbow. He owes my parents a lot of money, and one day he calls up my sister and tells her that she'll have to pay it, that he's not doing it anymore. So Mom calls and leaves a generic message at his home and on his cell phone. He then texts my sister saying that if Mom calls him again, he'll charge her with harassment. And I'm pretty sure that he has custody of the kids, since it was my sister who left for another man (and that sure as hell didn't work out).

Edit:

Dad came home Monday night. They couldn't find anything else wrong with him. He just has to take aspirin for the rest of his life.

Bath Time

This is Wash after a very necessary bath. (I'm just now getting the pictures from my camera. Sooo lazy.)

I woke up Sunday morning, fed Wash, and went back to bed. Got up a little bit later to discover he pissed on one of the dividing curtains we have separating the entrance from the living room. He must have gotten tripped up into the curtain as well, because he got his own piss on him.

Into the sink he went!

As you can guess, he was not pleased.

Red

Very loosely based on the comic if the same name by Warren Ellis & Cully Hamner.

It's great fun. Go see it.

Some good news

I'm going back to work on Thursday. Same job I had before.

Washburne Van Gogh

Behold, our new kitty.

Washburne - from the Firefly character, because of his friendly demeanor.

Van Gogh - after Vincent Van Gogh. His left ear had mites which cut off some blood vessels, preventing it from growing properly.

Wash is about three years old. He was abandoned by a previous owner. Another couple had found him in their back yard and fed him for a little while, but as they had two cats (and a third that recently died of cancer), they weren't ready to take him in. So they talked to their friends, and their friends work with my friends, who knew we are very kitty friendly. The couple has paid for all of his shots and other medicine. We have to wait a few weeks before taking him in for the Big Snip.

Wash has kitty HIV. It's not a big deal for cats as it is in humans. But if we adopt another cat while we have Wash, it should already have HIV, otherwise Wash will infect it.

We've had him for two hours now. He's making himself comfortable on the couch, sleeping next to me.

Sorry for the spam

My email account was hacked. BOOOO! Ah well, one new password later...

Table giveaway

I've had this table since I first moved to Astoria, and it has served me well. It's bade of a ballistic textured plastic and can hold up to 400 lbs. Six feet long, 30 inches deep, and 30 inches tall. It locks into position when unfolded. Each half has a handle so it stays closed when you're carrying it.

The table is now redundant in this apartment. Jillian doesn't want it around, and I don't want to throw it out. I paid $80 for it six years ago, and there's nothing wrong with it.

If anyone is interested in taking it (or know someone who would), please let me know. Otherwise, it goes on Craigslist.

It comes in black.

Modified Lamborghini Ankonian.

File this under Crazy NYC Stuff

We were in Jersey on Sunday with Mike helping a friend prepare a nursery in his house. A decent time was had by all.

The subway trip home was interesting, though.

Macho bullshit gym-rat jock asshole and his stripper girlfriend (whose relationship likely started sometime last night) get on at Union Square. Jock asshole starts broadcasting to the train that he's called "AKA Mr Biggest Dick" and begins comparing his orgasms to quarts of milk, while she swung around on the pole.

This goes on for a few minutes. Jillian had zero tolerance for this crap and put on her headphones to tune him out immediately. I took the time to think of what to say.

"Excuse me, could you not talk like that in public? Everyone can hear you."

He started shaking his head in disbelief, as though I was lowly scum seeking manna from the gods. As though I was a "hater".

"I don't care about you, I can do whatever I want."

"I don't care about you, either. But more people here don't want to hear your bullshit. Your friend might, but no one else does."

"I don't care about you - "

"Obviously. Is this how you talk in front of your mother? Your sister? No one else wants to hear your vile crap."

"I don't care about you, I'll be all over you before you even know."

"That's great. How about being a man instead of a boy?"

At that point he just stews and talks other crap to his friend, just a lot quieter, and glared at me. I get the knife in my Leatherman ready, hidden in my bag just in case, because he did make a thinly veiled threat. And I just smiled.

The woman he was with handed him a package of Tootsie-Pops. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a box cutter. Once he was done, it went back into the bag, and the bag went onto his back. I kept smiling.

Fortunately, they got off the train a couple of stops before we did.

One Year Ago Today...

Jillian and I became a couple. It's been a very good year. I'm looking forward to so many more.

No power, sort of.

Since yesterday, we don't have power in the living room, nor do half of the lights in the apartment work. The circuit breaker seems fine. We've called ConEd, who aren't helpful. We talked to the superintendent, who checked things out in the basement and couldn't find anything wrong. He's supposed to call us with a number for a good electrician today.

This really sucks, because I can't use my computer for art stuff I really need to work on. We're camped out in the bedroom. I'm using a netbook and leaching wireless signals from a neighbor.

Sucky week so far.

EDIT: Wednesday, 12:05 AM

All better now. The electrician that I looked up myself (still no word from the super) and contacted around 3 PM came by at 9 PM. He took apart a couple of lighting fixtures and found the problem. It was a very easy fix. He also replaced a faulty outlet. We got a very good price. He was out the door by 10:30.

Laid off again.

Oh, Economy, how could you do such a thing?

Anyway, it's nice to have some free time again.

The sleeping in until 2 PM thing will also be nice, at least for a couple of days.

Muppet-hemian Rhapsody

Oh yes.

Dear DC Direct, #2

More toy requests:

The Eradicator:
And what the hell, a re-sculpt of the Return of Superman version would be nice, too:

Speaking of re-sculpts, Steel is well overdue for one:

Just please not in Jon Bogdonave's style.

It would be nice to see The Ray get a good toy, with a design amalgam of these two:

I know we're likely to get a new Guy Gardner as Green Lantern toy with Wave 9 or 10 of Blackest Night, but since nothing's been announced, here's an official request:



A total re-scale/resculpt of the Birds of Prey set (Oracle, Huntress, Black Canary) with the costumes featured below (but add Black Canary's mini-jacket) is in order with the upcoming relaunch, and toss in Lady Blackbird from the last request:

A re-scaleing of Hook Hand Aquaman would be freaking cool, too. And maybe this time don't release it in just a box set with a bunch of crappy sculpts of figures previously released:



And how about a Supergirl who isn't almost naked? Like this (with a longer skirt and bike shorts underneath):




NOT like this:




And that's all I can think of at the moment. There will be more requests later.

Moving

The plan was to move in with Jillian (btw, that's what she prefers, not "Jill". Always learning) in July when my lease expires. Due to economic & sanity reasons (seriously, only seeing each other on the weekends is rough), the timetable has been moved up to early/mid-April.

Every weekday that we're both free after work, I'll bring stuff over. Weekends will mostly be multiple trips back and forth, and at the end, hiring movers for the furniture.

Help with the weekend transfers will be greatly appreciated/needed.

"But Jeff, you both have so many comics/books/DVDs/CDs/toys. While it is a spacious 1 bedroom apartment, where will you fit all of it?"

We're going to build wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves in the living room. Whatever is left over can fit in the bedroom.

In the mean time, we are trying to purge stuff to make the most of the space. There are four closets in Jillian's apartment, all filled to the rafters. I'll need at least one, maybe 1.25 of them.

This is going to be an interesting experience.

Jumpy Laptop Cursor?

At the last Sequential Salon, a lot of people were complaing about how the cursor on their laptop would jump from one spot to another. While using Jill's netbook, I had the same experience, and decided to find a solution.

Start Menu > Control Panel > Mouse

"But I'm not using a mouse, I'm using a touch pad" you say.

Trust the fuckhead.

On the window that pops up, select the Device Settings tab. Look for a Settings or Properties button. Make the touchpad less sensitive. If there is a PalmCheck feature, set it to maximum. Disable the Pinch and Momentum options. That should do it, but look at all the other little tweaks you can make in case the ones I mentioned don't correspond to your particular setup.

I hope this works for you. If not, maybe it'll set you on the right path.

Goodbye, Sivvie

Jill has had Sivvie, a grey tabby/calico mix, since kittenhood. She wasn't a fun cat, in my experience. Very much like Bucky in the comic strip Get Fuzzy. She didn't like to be touched, except on the top of her head and around her mouth. If you walked within 20 feet of her, she'd hiss at you. If you walked past her, your ankles would bleed mysteriously.

She did love the laser pointer, though. That was an instant hit.

She loved climbing up the couch in the most inconvenient way possible: up the side, where laptop computers and wine glasses and knitting projects were placed. And if you tried to clear the path for her, teeth, claws and blood were in your future.

Despite all that, Sivvie seemed to like me better than most people. And that's not counting the weekend she was in heat and demanded attention from me. Even though she hated me, I still loved her.

About two weeks ago, she lost her appetite, and was congested. She stopped moving around as much, and way less vocal (she talked A LOT). Jill got worried, but took it in stride. Last weekend we started to force feed her, but she lost so much weight that her bones were sticking out. She got stronger, but not better.

We brought her to the animal hospital on 6th Avenue & Union Street in Brooklyn on Saturday. Just by feeling her, the doctor knew it was very bad. The x-rays showed that her entire abdomen was full of fluid. You couldn't see any of her organs through it. The doctor left us alone for a while. Sivvie seemed to be aware of and accepted what was going on, and started to purr. Jill held Sivvie, and I held Jill while she decided what to do.

She decided that it's a quality of life issue for Sivvie. Any sort of treatment would just be prolonging the inevitable, and most of that time would be painful.

The doctor came in and gave Sivvie a powerful sedative. We cried, said our goodbyes and I love yous, and held her as it slowly took effect, purring all the while. She eventually fell asleep. We left the room, and the doctor administered the second drug.

Jill should get the ashes within the week.

Meddling Kids

http://verydemotivational.com/2010/02/01/demotivational-posters-meddling-kids/

Quick, what's the number for 911?

I had a nice weekend planned. Jill was coming over, and I had three new recipes I know she'd like. Her palette is more savory than mine, and I'm not much a foodie unless it's a dessert. Things were going quite well. We fell asleep around 2:30 AM on Sunday.

I woke up around 8:30 with the worst pain I've ever felt, in my lower left abdomen - automatically ruled out appendicitis. I sat on the toilet for a few minutes just in case, and looked for a local hospital that would accept my insurance. After that success, I woke up a hung-over Jill, told her what was happening, and called for an ambulance.

We were dropped off in the emergency room at Mount Sinai here in Astoria. And we waited.

And we waited.

And got pushed around to triage.

And we waited.

And I dry-heaved.

And we waited.

And I was crying in pain and dehydration.

And we waited.

And I dry-heaved a few more times.

And we waited.

And we waited.

I got looked over, given an IV drip, with drugs for nausea, and two doses of sweet, sweet morphine. The first had no effect, the second was bliss. It cut the pain in half (yay!) and made me woozy & sleepy. I called my parents while the second dose kicked in. It seemed like the right thing to do.

And we waited.

And we waited.

I got wheeled over to the CaT scan lab, and Jill went to get something to eat so she didn't pass out from low blood sugar.

And I waited.

I'd never had a CaT scan before. There's a lot of holding your breath involved. The second time through, I couldn't hold it long enough. It didn't screw anything up, but I was worried I'd have to do it again. But I didn't, so I was wheeled into the hall.

And I waited.

Then I was wheeled into the ICU. Jill was there sipping coffee.

And we waited for the results.

And we waited.

And we waited.

The doctor finally came in with prescriptions and a diagnosis: a three-millimeter kidney stone. I was soon discharged, though still woozy from the sweet, sweet morphine, which I'd never had before today.

I absolutely understand why people would abuse morphine.

Anyway, we went across the street, got the prescriptions filled. Jill had gone to get cash to a cab while I waited for the drugs. Then there was a rumblin' in my tummy, and dry-heaved yet again. The pharmacist was kind enough to let me use the bathroom as I felt it coming up. The placed closed up, and I waited for Jill outside. We called for a car, and we were home by 4:30.

Called my folks to let them know the story, and found out my dad is smoking again. Within the past week or so.

I took some drugs, and fell asleep. My own snoring woke me up a couple of times, but was up for good at 8:30. I slowly hydrated, shook off the wooziness, and took one of the pain killers.

I feel good now, but I'm dreading the moment when the stone passes through.

"I am the stone that the builder refused..."

"I am the inspiration that makes ladies sing the blues..."

(click it!)