Monday, October 20, 2008 , the wee hours

Impact of the foreclosure crisis

I could write my own version of this, but the New York Times has an eloquent version which bears reading:  In Hard Times for Humans, Hardships for Pets, Too.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/20 at 12:47 AM
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008 , late morning

Life in the womb

National Geographic is working on an amazing series about life in the womb… as an animal.  We’ve all seen pictures of human fetuses (feti?), but I know I’ve never seen anything like these photos of animals in vivo:  The groundbreaking pictures of animals capturing life in the womb.  The descriptions of animals fighting and eating each other before birth made me feel a bit queasy, and perhaps that episode of the series won’t be my favourite, but I can’t wait to see the one about wild and domestic cats.  Check out the article, if only to see the cool photos of the kitten and the puppy.  There are some additional photos from the series here.  The series is being produced in conjunction with a British TV network, so I have no idea when it might air in the US, but if I find out anything I’ll post about it.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/15 at 11:21 AM
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Sunday, October 12, 2008 , early evening

Pants!

Every year I try to document, via this blog, the day that I need to give up my shorts for long pants.  Usually I make it to at least mid-November, and I think I once made it to the first week in December.  But this year?  This year I put on pants October 11th!  Our average high temp on October 11th is usually 83 degrees, but this year, it was a record-low 62 and windy.  The temperature change happened over 24 hours, with no warning, and now we even have snow on the mountains.  Much to my relief, the furnace worked when I turned it on for a test run (it used to blow a fuse every autumn).

The temperatures are going to start to rise again, and I’m sure I’ll have the A/C running again before Wednesday.  Nevertheless, I’m noticing that the winters here are getting colder and more dry.  We’ve lived here for almost ten winters, but our pipes have frozen only the past two.  The trees have suffered the past two years as well (yet weren’t at all bothered a few years ago when it snowed).  Winter used to mean the rainy season, but I don’t think it rained even once between January and May.  The weather is changing, no matter what you might think is at the source of the issue.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/12 at 07:56 PM
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Saturday, October 11, 2008 , late at night

The incredible (incredibly dangerous) backwards microwave oven

I’m so sorry to have another appliance story for you, but I’ve done it again.  Suddenly last night, without warning, the microwave oven started to act as if it was opposite day.  You know how a microwave is supposed to automatically shut off whenever you open the door?  Well, our microwave (a high-powered thing that can make oblivion of a cheese slice in 7 seconds flat) now starts to run on high power whenever the door is opened.  And it will only operate with the door open.  As soon as the door is closed, nada, silence, darkness.  Open door and whoosh, dangerous microwaves give me new diseases.  Of course I didn’t allow this to go on for more than a second, and only because I was in a state of shocked confusion, but c’mon… I’m down to a leaky washing machine, a dryer, and the oven.  Then I’m out of appliances to damage.  The freaky thing about the microwave is that when the door is opened and it’s actively “baking”, it’s not even programmed to be cooking.  All the times have been cleared, I’ve left it unplugged, etc.  Is this the class action suit to finally solve my financial issues (I said, tongue in cheek)?  Get me to a tort lawyer, stat! 

On a note of complete unamusement, I’ve had to put all blog comments on moderation.  I’m sorry, but the spammers are just too active and I don’t want their stupid comments live for even sixty seconds.  I get email notification of comments three times an hour, so I promise your intelligent and beloved comment will show up quickly, but the spammer’s comments will just hit the delete bin, where they belong.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/11 at 11:23 PM
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008 , early evening

Thanks for the rip-off, Kenmore

The good news is that we were able to have our Kenmore fridge repaired, and it “only” cost $220.  Quotes to repair other broken appliances over previous months include $2700 to repair the air conditioner, and $1200 to repair the pool motors, so it makes $220 seem like a relative bargain.

The bad news is that the repair took all of ten minutes, and the part replaced costs $11.56.  C’mon, Sears—wasn’t it enough to charge $109 for the service call?  Did you have to charge an additional $100+ for ten minutes of work?  I don’t know what you pay your technicians, but the guy who was here today was on track to be earning over $400 an hour for you, including driving time between calls, and that’s nothing more than a rip-off, plain and simple.  I’m so sick and tired of crummy products and over-priced service calls.  If the fridge ever dies like this again, I’m replacing this part myself, and Sears/Kenmore can suck it. 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/08 at 06:53 PM
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Monday, October 06, 2008 , evening

Bad Day

Woke up today to find our only refrigerator dead as a doornail… I’m sure the compressor is blown, but hey, the lightbulb still works!  That makes a fridge, air conditioner, and two pool motors which have died in the last four months, in addition to the two dishwashers and water heater we’ve already replaced in the 7 years we’ve lived in this newly-constructed house.  The landfills aren’t full of plastic—they’re full of our dead appliances.  Shouldn’t a $1200 refrigerator last more than 7 years without benefit of an “extended warranty”?  Did I mention that the washing machine leaks?  Hell, I’m probably still paying for all these things on my Sears card.

I can’t think of anything good to come of any of this, except that it puts one of my favourite R.E.M. songs in my head…

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/06 at 08:35 AM
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Sunday, October 05, 2008 , late afternoon

Men and cats

Here’s a nice article from the New York Times about the increasingly popularity of cats as pets for single men:  Sorry, Fido, It’s Just a Guy Thing.

Man holding his cat

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/05 at 05:19 PM
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Thursday, October 02, 2008 , evening

It’s been a rough couple of weeks

Financial issues aside, Pinto’s death aside… it’s been a difficult couple of weeks.  I’m in the process of changing some medication and it’s been difficult, stressful, and exhausting.  I’ve also had so much blood work done that the veins in both arms have conked out and today I had to have blood taken from the back of my hand (among one of my least pleasant experiences).  I’m bruised, sore, tired, jumpy, and to top it all off, a random lab test showed that my thyroid gland is deader than, well, deader than John McCain’s campaign in Michigan.  If you know about such things, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease in 1999, and I’ve been on thyroid meds ever since.  However, even with the Hashimoto’s, my TSH was never higher than about 4.  My lab work from last week showed a TSH of 77, which is a few steps away from baldness and a coma (not that a nice long rest wouldn’t be welcome).  So, it’s off to the endocrinologist—will my thyroid be so inactive that he’ll want to remove it completely?  How much will that cost, and which Presidential candidate is offering a health insurance solution for those of us who can’t get any kind of insurance, no matter how many times we apply?  I’m definitely ready for a break in this big dark cloud which has been following us around, and want a healthy new start… maybe that’s asking for too much.  In any case, I wanted to explain this new absence, and to express hope that I’ll soon feel some sort of “perky” so I can blog on a regular basis.

On a related note, if you have any home remedies for restless leg syndrome (other than copious amounts of alcohol), I’d love to hear them!  If you’ve never experienced the phenomenon, just count yourself lucky, and don’t make fun of those of us dealing with it or karma will strike you down and give you “jimmy legs”.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/02 at 09:05 PM
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