Category: Uncategorized Page 13 of 152

Yesterday, when Thunder still hadn’t eaten, I took a half day from work to see if I could get him some help.  I called the vet first and since there was no change he told me to take him to the hospital.

So, Thunder went back in the pet carrier and into the car.  He’s not fond of car rides.

We get to the hospital and I get him checked in.  The first vet tech and the vet on call loved him and remarked that he was so handsome – and his purr was amazing.

The other vet tech – the one that came to take his blood – was not fortunate to get a purr from him.  Thunder hissed at her even before the needle stick and when she brought him back his neck smelled like alcohol.  She didn’t give the details, but said he would be justified in writing a bad review of her on google. He wasn’t hurt, I think he just got pissed off and knocked over the bottle of alcohol they were using to disinfect.

And then Thunder and I waited. For a long time.

I talked to him pretty much non-stop, we reviewed the causes of heart disease in dogs (there was a chart), and then I found a children’s book about a dog going to the hospital.  The vet came in to apologize for the delay and say that the blood work was close to normal. She had some paperwork to finish up and would be back soon – so, we finished the book.

And waited some more.  Cats are hard to read sometimes, but I could tell that he was glad I was there.

Then it was time to leave him there for the night while they got him going on an IV.  

I went to the counter to check out and on one side of me was a couple having their dog put to sleep and on the other was a guy who’s cat had suddenly gone blind.

Broke my heart to leave my Little Furry Buddy there.

This morning, I got a call from the vet and he said they’d put Thunder on an appetite stimulant and an antibiotic.  The vet suggested a radiogram as the next step and I gave the okay – we won’t know more until this afternoon.

The house this morning is quieter than usual.  And I miss my cat.

Last weekend, after the morning snows had melted off, I headed outside with my rake.  I’m old school – no blowers for me.

I got all the leaves in my yard bagged up and then headed next door to Kenny and Patty’s house and did their front yard. That was Sunday.  I had Monday off and got an earlier start in the day. I help my neighbor across the street – Jill – finish up her yard and together we did her neighbor’s yard.  That would be Alex. And then one more house down – I don’t know their name.

Next, my next door neighbor on the other side – Denver.  His family has a big yard with a huge tree – took me a while to get those to the street.  While I was finishing that up, I saw that his across the street neighbor – Laurie – was struggling with wet leaves in her yard.  So I went over and helped her finish those up, then worked on her neighbor’s yard – Peter.

On Tuesday after work, I went over to Jim’s house and did his front yard, then back home to rake all the leaves into the street – since I confirmed that the city would be picking them up Wednesday.  I also de-bagged my leaves since so wouldn’t need a special pick up.

When I got home Wednesday, the street was clear and all the leaves were in a giant pile – felt pretty good that most of those were there because of my rake. At about 12:30 in the morning Thursday, the city got those cleared as well – I woke up when I heard the truck – and today our street looks great.

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I got a notice in the mail that my registration for my car was due in January and that my license was expiring then too.   Rather than put that off – and risk forgetting – I decided to do that yesterday after work. I did a little research and found that there were two types of licenses being issued – Standard and the slightly more useful Compliant.  

Took a little doing, but I managed to get enough documentation together for the Compliant one.  Passport, Social Security card, several pieces of mail and my homeowner’s insurance policy. I doubled up on the mail items, just in case, and was ready to go to BMV.

The line was pretty short and the clerk was friendly.  I think she was impressed that I had actually done my homework and had all the items with me and ready.  I got the paperwork filled out for the Compliant license, paid my fees for that and the registration, and got my photo taken.  20 minutes in and out – and I think I was the only one that got what I needed. Everyone else was turned away for not having the right documents or information for what they were doing.

Seriously, people, get your shit together.

The new license will be mailed to me in a couple weeks and I’ve got a document and my old license until then.  The sticker will go on my plate tonight and I’ll be good to go.

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Everyone’s favorite feline is a little under the weather.  He’s normally a good eater, but hasn’t eaten in a couple days. And a small bit of wet food made him throw up.  So, today, I got an appointment and loaded him up in the car.

He yowled the whole way there, but settled down once we got to the vet’s office.  Thunder was very good and calm – purring up a storm even when he got a shot to settle his stomach.  The vet tech remarked on his purring and I think would have liked to take him home herself.

Thunder doesn’t have a fever or obvious discomfort – he’s just not eating.

I gave him some more wet food to try and I’ve got an antibiotic to give him tonight, just in case. He’s a little subdued, but other than not eating he seems pretty much his normal self.  If he doesn’t strap on the feedbag soon, I’ll get him back to vet.

He was such a good cat today – and I’m worried about my LFB (little furry buddy).

Time to dose him – and hope he keeps it down.

Edit: That could have gone better.  I think I got ¾ of dose in him and he nailed me with a claw.  He’s so quick….

It was inevitable, I guess.  The University of Akron had an active shooter on campus.

It happened overnight and I didn’t know anything about it until this morning when I checked my text messages and saw the alert and then the all clear.

Ironically, just last week our team was talking about our emergency text system and that we should perhaps send out another test.

I got more detail once I was up and online.  In one of the dorms last night, one guy shot another guy in what is called an “accidental weapon discharge”.  Neither were UA students and the shooter is in custody – and the victim is in the hospital with a gut wound.

No other details yet – other than that it’s over.

In the coming days and weeks, there will be a lot of questions.  Who were these guys? How did they get into a secured residence hall?  Who let them in? Why was there a gun on campus and who’s was it?  And why did it go off?

For now, my heart goes out to the students in the dorms.  What a terrible night they must have had. And all those that were responders trying to keep our campus safe and informed.  

No matter the detail of the circumstance – accident or intentional – we’re another statistic now.  

One more data point.    Shelter in place – this not a drill.

The optimal route for me to drive home from work takes me through a not-so-great neighborhood, but even with all the on-street parking (on both sides, naturally, jerks) and random pedestrians walking in the street for me to dodge, it’s still better than any other route.  Most days, anyway.

Today on the drive home, I saw some kids playing on the sidewalk.  I paid close attention as I approached – ready to hit the brakes if one of them randomly lunged into the street.  Wouldn’t be the first time…

Instead, I caught the eye of a little boy holding a black toy gun with orange accents.  Except for the orange color, it might as well have passed for a real gun – it was the right size and shape.  

He raised the gun and pointed it at me so that I could see down the barrel – and kept it trained on me as I drove past.

The look on his face was pure malice.  If it had been a real gun he might very well have shot me for no other reason than I was driving down the street.

I have a toy gun too – one that I got as a present.  It’s a sci-fi blaster – a prop from Guardians of the Galaxy.  It has some cool special effects and lights up and it only barely resembles any kind of gun.   And it rests in my Armory of Fictional and Mythical Artifacts & Weapons – along with a sonic screwdriver, magic wand, and Golden Sword of Battle, etc.

The blaster will sometimes find its way to my hand and I’ll point it at the wall and pull the trigger to hear the noise and watch it light up.  Just as a nerf sword might be swung through the air or a ring might be charged up with a memorized oath. (“In brightest day…”)

And I could no more hurt someone with the blaster than the boy could have hurt me with his toy gun – but, that malice was unnerving.

In the wake of… well, I was going to say the gun violence this week, but narrowing it to a single week seems disrespectful.  In the wake of the ongoing gun violence, the blaster seems a little less fun.

What is our fascination with guns?  I’ve never held a real one – nor (fortunately) have I had one pointed at me.  But even that toy blaster evokes… something.

I’m not going to vary my route because some randomly angry kid pointed a fake gun at me.  And I’m not on a mission to ban toy guns.

But, I’ve given this a little thought, and I think it’s time to part with the blaster.  I’m tired of guns and the anger and people dying because it’s easy to pull a trigger. Fake or real, it’s too often an expression of anger and I could use a little less of that.  

Maybe we all could.

I got my sample ballot printed out recently and did my due diligence in researching the candidates.   I had pretty simple criteria as I visited their websites – dividing them neatly into “vote for” and “lunatic”.  Well, maybe not quite like that.

I have my notes ready and I’ll be heading to the polls early on election day.  I considering doing the early voting, but the process when I did that before seemed… eh.  A little too casual, maybe.

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In a recent staff meeting, I made a small cube-shaped jack o’lantern out of orange paper and left it on the table when I left.  One of my coworkers saw this, loved it, emailed me, and asked if I could make some for her daughter’s preschool class. She requested 19 of them on a Tuesday and needed them by Thursday so she could deliver them on Friday.   

I agreed – figuring I’d do twenty so she could have one too – then did the math.  Each cube is 6 modules in orange with a seventh in green for the stem. Times 20… 140 pieces of paper folded.  In two days. Plus assembly and drawing a face on each one.

I bought the orange paper I needed Tuesday night and got all of them cut – plus 10 cubes and stems done.  I also made a stencil for the faces. On Wednesday, I finished up the folding and got them assembled and finished.  Delivered Thursday – on time. Looking forward to the pictures of the kids getting them.

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In other folding news… I participated in a Make a Difference Day event on campus where I taught students to fold some origami ornaments.     Most of the students there were making ornaments from kits, but a few joined me for a little folding. As we went along, a couple of them starting teaching other students that joined in.  And they divided up the labor – one guy cutting paper and another folding right up to where the designs diverged.

We made a ton of ornaments in a couple hours and two of the students wanted my contact info for future projects.

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Tonight was trick-or-treat in Akron.  Two years ago, I missed it entirely. It was on a weird day or something.   Last year, I bah-humbugged my way past it with dark porch lights and a scowl.

This year, though, I bought several bags of candy and determined the day well in advance.  It was from 5-7 and by 4:50 I was on the porch with a chair, an origami pumpkin, a bowl of candy (with more in reserve) and a book.

Took a bit for the kids to start showing up and many of them were in large groups.  There were some kids that were maye a little too old for trick or treating and many didn’t have much in the way of costumes.  And one girl had a torn grocery bag for her treats – I wanted to maybe get her a new one, but she was gone before I could say something.

It was cold and raining and not quite as magical as when I was a kid, but I gave away a lot of candy and most of the kids said thank you – even if many forgot the “Trick or Treat”.

I have a little candy left over to take to work to share, so, everyone wins.

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I had a whole series of plans for a productive Saturday.

Which is unusual in itself – I’m more a “ugh, no” person when it comes to a day off.

I was going to get up early and finish my painting, then get some breakfast on the way into the office for a bit.  Next, over to Good Life tattoo and body piercing for some new jewelry and finally up north to half price books.

Annnnd I slept in.  Not a lot, but enough to throw me off.  So, I skipped the painting and went into the office expecting to have pop tarts there.

But, my card swipe didn’t work and I can’t find my key.  And Good Life didn’t open til noon. So, I instead headed north to the bookstore.  My friend George lives “north” but not really the part of north I was at. But, I figured since I don’t get to see him often, I could go a little out of my way and invited him for lunch after my bookstore trip.

After lunch, I headed back to Akron and got some new jewelry, (SHINY!) then home.  I worked a little bit from home, but that’s tougher to do. I did some laundry, worked on a couple of projects, and had a quiet evening.

Sunday had less formal planning and it went a little better.  I ran some errands, did some reading, finished my paintings, and worked on a cool paper project.  And I cleaned my garage since that seemed like the thing to do.

Not as productive as I had planned, but still a busy weekend.

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I’ve been playing some games recently that have moralist systems.  You can play as a bad guy or a good guy and the choices you make impact the game.  I played Dishonored 2 as Emily first, the young empress, and used stealth and non-lethal means to get through the game and rescue her father from his transformation into stone.  So, Low Chaos and just being dang sneaky.

And it was a lot of fun, but it took a while to play through since I had to be careful.  Once I beat the game, I played again as her father Corvo – the royal protector – in a High Chaos destroy everything and kill anyone that stands in his way of rescuing his daughter.  It felt consistent based on the character and while I personally would have gone the stealth route if it was me – I got into the character and his motivations.  We ended the game on a dark note, but it felt “right”.

I had played another game with a similar good and evil system – but this time Devlen from Infamous Second Son (smoke powers in Seattle ) was the same guy with each play though.  The first time, he was the hero and saved the day. The second time, playing as the bad guy, I’m making the “wrong choices” and sending him down a path of evil.

And it feels… wrong.  Not just that kicking civilians or beating up street musicians is wrong – but that it feels wrong for him.  He’s not driven by a changing story or hunger for righteous fury and vengeance, he’s just…well, an asshole.

Good and evil are more than just not punching babies or saving a bus of nuns.  There’s always context. What drives a person – or a character – to act in the way that they do?

So, I’m not sure I’m going to continue with Devlen as a bad guy.  He’s supposed to be a hero and playing against that just feel disingenuous.

Also, there’s something wrong with my controller and if I’m not pushing him forward he tends to wander backwards and vaguely left.  There might be something to that, but I think I’ve already pushed the metaphor.

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I’m at 201 tweets and I’ve been doing one haiku a day since June 17th.  That’s a lot of poetry to write and I’m still plugging away. It’s a good mental challenge and I find myself thinking in syllables even when I’m not working on a tweet.

So, time to wrap this up and find the next one for today.

The first call into the campus switchboard this past Friday morning started out with:

“Your whipped cream is TERRIBLE!”

The operator tried to get some clarification, but instead got:

“You must have left it out all night!”

It was eventually determined that the caller was attempting to reach the coffee shop in the campus library and were then transferred.

Seriously, who starts off a phone call that way?

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Jim and I were recently in a noisy restaurant and got to talking about old game shows like $20,000 Pyramid and Password.   He leaned in to stage-whisper a clue to me:

“Moist,”

I leaned in and replied, but he clearly didn’t hear me.  Instead, he reared back and asked with shock, confusion, and perhaps a little horror.

“Did you say Rabbits?”  he asked.

Really confused as well, I responded.

“No, I said Brownies,”

We both nearly snorted with laughter trying to contain ourselves.

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On the way home from work, after a difficult day, I got stuck behind someone at a stop sign.  Their only option was a very safe right turn, but they lingered.

More than a little impatient, I mumbled some instructions to them that they couldn’t possibly hear. Normally, this would involve some obscure Ghostbusters reference like “The light is green, the trap is clean,” but that really only works at stoplights.

Instead, the clever bon mot I summoned was:

“It is red in colour, but not in intent,”

(Apparently, my subconscious is slightly British.)  

Roughly translated, I think I meant something about the stop sign’s color (or colour) is permanent, but shouldn’t be confused with a stoplight that will change and provide different information and instructions.

Or something.  It seemed really profound and clever to me at the time – so much that I wrote it down when I got home.  But I think I was really just tired and my brain wasn’t running at full power.

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I was talking to one of my female friends today and she said she had to check something on her phone.  She reached down the front of her top and pulled out her cell phone, glanced at it, then tucked it away again.

While I’m aware that women will occasionally carry items in their cleavage – especially if they don’t have a purse or clothing with pockets – the maneuver was so smooth and practiced it appeared like a magic trick.

I was a little agape, and half-way expected her to extract a rabbit next.   

Sadly, I lack the cleavage to perform a similar trick on my own. And it would not be appropriate to perform that trick on someone else, I’m certain.

I got a flyer in the mail yesterday from the Akron Police department letting me know that a sex offender was moving into the area.  The flyer included a picture, a description, the nature of his crime, as well as his exact address.

Two streets down from my house.

When I looked at the detail, though, it showed that the crime took place nearly 20 years ago.

And I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

On the one hand, yeah, it was a pretty serious crime.  On the other, he got caught and paid his debt to society – whatever that means anymore.   And so if he’s out of jail – do we keep punishing him? Does that make our society safer that we continue to vilify him?  

If I was a parent I’m pretty sure I’d be singing a different song – but if he was a thief or a murderer, I wouldn’t have gotten a notice.  Which seems like an odd standard.  

And if he’s really still dangerous, then what good did prison do?

So, now I know that a sex offender has moved into my neighborhood.  I don’t feel any safer knowing.

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As a public institution, the University of Akron is required to allow people to come onto campus and speak in public spaces – provided they don’t disrupt our normal operations or pose a threat to campus safety.

Recently, a notice went out to the faculty, staff, and students about someone coming onto campus and that any counter-discussions should be done peacefully.  But no details on what it was about.

I was busy through that day and didn’t get anywhere near the venue – and it was just as well.  Based on the complaints we got, it was a preacher who was basically against anyone that didn’t fit his narrow view of how humanity should be.

And he was loud and vile about it – and pretty crazy.

It’s the kind of thing that would have made me sick to my stomach to have witnessed, but when I went through that area the next day I saw something extraordinary.  

All along the walkway leading up to that area, students had grabbed some chalk and written messages of hope and love on the ground.  It was amazing – such an outpouring of support and kindness for everyone he had been attacking.  

As I walked along that walkway, I felt loved.

The chalk washed away at the next rainstorm, but those messages – written by kind students who supported each other – lasted far longer than his hate.

So, thank you, UA students, for standing up to hate and caring about each other.  You did good.

The UA school of art recently hosted a talk at the Akron Art Museum for a “paperologist”  – someone who was a professional origami artist. Jim offered to go with me and we met up with one of his friends there.  

The speaker talked about how he got started (IT, but frustrated by not creating anything tangible) and how he learned as kid and came back to it.  

It was there that we diverged a bit.  He works with single gigantic sheets of paper and built complicated geometric models.  I, on the other hand, prefer to build hundreds of modules and use them as building blocks.  (I suspect my LEGO background is a factor.)

There was a slide show and he had some models to fold and unfold for us to see – and there are a couple of that I want to try.

Afterwards, one of the professors at UA that hosted the event insisted that I meet the speaker – even going so far as to push some of the students out of the way.  🙂 We talked for a couple of minutes and I gave him a modular diamond I had folded during the talk.

I don’t know many folders, but it was kinda cool to meet a new one.  Even in the short time we talked, we shared a feel for the paper and being able to see the next folds in our heads.  And when I gave him the module, his hands immediately began to turn it over and over, exploring the dimensions and angles.

He gets it.

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One of the outside faucets on my house had started to leak and no amount of “umph” would turn it all the way off.   Jim helped me find the shut-off valve in the basement and then I began to study the problem and acquire the tools.

Once ready, I got all set up and started working with two pipe wrenches and as much force as I could muster.

And that was not enough.

I managed to not get in over my head where there was any kind of leak, but no real progress.  With the water off to that faucet there wasn’t a hurry, so I waited until Jim had a little time and we tackled it again.

With the two of us each wielding a wrench, some WD-40, and a careful application of torque and we had the old faucet loose from the main pipe.  Well, there was some swearing involved, but that’s almost a given with me.

A little pipe tape and the new faucet was in place.  And then, I turned the water on. No leaks, no problems – just the sweet flow of liquid success.

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This past weekend, my folks and my sister and her family came up for a visit and a bike ride.  I had gotten my bike out and ridden it around the block a couple of time – after I had re-inflated the tires from almost 0 – but I wasn’t really ready for the trip.

We met up on Saturday morning, then hit the trail.  The weather was much cooler than last year at this time and the distance wasn’t as far.  Which is good, because last year’s trip nearly killed me.  We had lunch at the trailhead, then took the train back to our cars.

Next up, a couple quick hikes to a waterfall and then an overlook.  The waterfall was pretty cool and the view from the overlook was impressive.  I went right up to the edge with that one. Well, I called it “right by the edge” – most people would have called it “about 10 feet back”.  

After the hike, we went back to their hotel and hung out for a bit before Jim joined us for dinner.  And then after dinner, a swim in the hotel pool. I got to swim with my nieces – they are both starting to learn – and they were amazed at how long I can hold my breath.  Uncle is pretty cool, right?

Eventually, the chlorine and very noisy other guests got to me and I called it a night. It was a good visit and I’m glad I got to see everyone.  

Oh, and I got a great selfie with my nieces. 🙂

I had some goals in mind when I went to my first pride this year.

1. I hoped to see some of my friends
2. I wanted to get a sense of the community
3. I thought I’d get a measure of the protestors
4. And get some “fair food” and merchandise, of course
5. And rock out in my kilt, Geek socks, and coordinated akron t-shirt.

I got there a little after the festival started and made a slow circuit of the vendors.  I kept an eye out as I walked around for my friends and managed to find a few – including the most awesome of my co-workers.   I also kept a look-out for the protesters – but there were none to be found.

As I walked around, I was struck by how happy everyone was to be there.  There were drag queens – of varying degrees of skill – and a few of us brave souls in kilts.  There were people on stilts and parents pushing kids in strollers. There was food of all kinds and an impressive Elton John cover artist.

Each time I ran into someone I knew, there was surprise and delight for both of us.  And a feeling of welcome.

There were a surprising number of banks there with booths set up.  And quite a few churches as well. Along with the t-shirt and art vendors, there were a few political candidates with booths – perhaps feeling a little out of place next to the leather harnesses.

And then there were the Log Cabin Republicans.    My mother usually says “Bless their hearts,” before commenting on someone’s character flaws.    I would have skipped that and gone right to “what a bunch of ignorant ass-hats,” but I just ignored them.

My friend Jenny and I got some doughnuts and listened to some music before she needed to leave.     I made another circuit and bought a wristband and a necklace.

And after I took my measure, I was on my way.

It was impossible not to fit in.  All ages, races, sexual orientations, and gender identifies – and quite a few religions.

But no protesters.  

Love won out that day.