Thursday, February 25, 2010

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.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

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.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

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.