Oh My God

 Still using random old pictures as I have not taken any time to figure out the photo mess.

Zoey is still jumping up on the cabinets as she figured out how to get down. In a kind of clumsy fashion. This is where I wonder is having no claws my hurt her cat abilities. Not sure although I am sure it does not help with the mousing. But we don't have any more mice at the moment.

Big Daddy still does not have his bag and he only has one more day in China. He got the top dog executive assistant from China to give it a go as he knew she was fluent and owed him. We will see.

Could not take mom out today as the IBS is not giving me a break. I don't know if the expensive probiotics recommended by the doctor don't work or take longer to work. Whatever.

I am rather disturbed by the pictures of the "lagoon" where the little boy was snatched by the gator. I have been to Disney World and the Grand Floridian is the expensive hotel. And those beaches look to me like an attractive nuisance. When I saw the pictures of the area I almost fell off my chair.  I mean really they are a lure to spend time in the sand by the water. Not a good thing. I wonder just how Disney is gonna fix this.

My son is all Disney is great but I remember the recent H1B fiasco, the monorails going out of control and killing an employee, and rumblings that things are not perfect in the Magic Kingdom. But this little boy dying, this one is way too ugly to sweep under the Magic Carpet.

Random Thoughts

Mother's Day flowers from Punkin Head

I went to the doctor today and told him I am depressed. I cannot sleep due to the IBS, hives, dry mouth and other assorted bullshit. So I have new meds, I need to go to an allergist and therapy. Will let you know how this all goes. 

I took my mom to the movies yesterday, we saw Mother's Day-not the worst movie ever made, and we were both amazed that the matinee was only 5 dollars. She told me in Florida it is 9 dollars for seniors. Whoa. But the movie did have the ugliest baby I have ever seen in a movie/TV show. I am talking ugly baby. And the mother of the baby was the tiniest woman ever and she has this huge ugly baby. And this was not a device, just a fact. 

Last weekend we left food on the porch for the postal carrier, it is a huge food pantry effort. Not a problem to leave the food but my mail carrier can barely make it door to door, much less toting these canned goods. This woman drives the mail on a walking route. I feel like telling her if she walked more she could lose that extra 100 pounds she is also carrying around. 

Sammy Dog is getting worse, so bad that sometimes now he does not even fight his pill. He does not seem to be in pain but I am worried. I fear the end is near. 

Well we have a new handy man, Jerry, and he is trying to find and fix the 3 month old leak in the basement. We have repaired, replaced, removed and cemented all we could find. Now we have to jack up the basement floor and check out this other pipe. I am about to pull my hair out on this one. 

And my cat is peeing on the floor next to her litter box. WTF. 

Funny of the month:  I drive some friends to the airport so they can fly to Cancun. The guy starts panicking at the airport about his coffee cup. I thought he was looking for a trash receptacle and I told him I would take care of it. The cup looked like shit.  Over a week later he texts me about this coffee cup, do I have it? Seriously? I told Big Daddy to toss it because what kind of idiot would take a coffee cup to the airport in someone else's car and expect them to protect it and safeguard it for an unknown amount of time? Who is that stupid. And he never asked me to keep it, asshat. 

I am falling apart.

Big Daddy's Anniversary present, a stove top smoker.

It is a good thing I retired.

Last night I was in pain all night and not sure if it is back pain or kidney pain, My IBS is not doing well at all. Now my left knee hurts. WTF.

I was having a few problems at the end of my working life, which is really why I chose this path, but I just pushed through it. Now I am noticing and it is not fun.

Just one Uber ride today as I could not get out early enough. IBS. Which is also what ended the days riders.

I am enthralled with all this new technology though, when I went to the Sec of State for my new Driver's license I gave them my cell number on the check in computer, it was an estimated 2 hour wait time, so I left. They texted me when I had about 30 minutes to wait and I returned. Then they posted your approx. wait time and texted you with the information in case you weren't back yet. You could also delay your return by 30 minutes by text.

Who knew?

Edit:

Back is quite a bit today, I had to take an Aleve. This is not making me happy. But the house is clean.

Also I barely passed my eye test at the Sec of State, she actually helped me out. Eyes are sometimes better then worse. Don't know if that is normal or not. Hmm.

I should have taken pictures

Don't know what it is but Big Daddy loves it.

For some reason I have decided to change things up a bit. Last Saturday, which is also known as no makeup weekend, I went to breakfast with BD at 7:30 in the morning. It was a struggle as my IBS was threatening but we made it okay.

This morning I had a pedicure scheduled and then at a different salon a manicure, so we left the house at the crack of dawn to get to Eastern Market to shop for plants. We did save a bundle, I bought perennials of a decent size for 6 bucks each. We got a limelight hydrangea, Russian sage, foxglove, white daisies, dahlias and columbine. Oh yes, and fairy flowers. And a flat of Caladium for 25 dollars and 2 clematis and something called a bird of paradise. We could barely fit the radio flyer and the roller cart back in the car.

It was crowded by 8  that we had to leave. I also got Mt. Rainier cherries for 7 bucks for 2 pounds and blackberries for 1 buck a box.

Now we have to plant and mulch.

Oh and Punkin Head is wanted for an all expense paid interview for this new job. All is well.

Worst managed launch ever

We have now reached the point of "cannot be fucked up any worse" with this launch. Every day I think I have reached rock bottom and there is a seismic shift allowing me to sink further into the abyss of hell. And I am doing this in a foreign language, which I have not spoken since 6th grade and I only had 6 weeks of training. Oh and of course the occasional movie trailer, hasta la vista baby. I texted my contact that he had to call me pronto as things were mucho mucho grande bad.

And speaking of mucho mucho grande bad my IBS is at an all time mess. Stress does not do well with my guts and my complexion. I walk around as if everything is fine but the insides know better. Due to an unfortunate accident this weekend I now own new slippers, a robe, a nightgown, 2 white towels and a Ralph Lauren throw. Don't ask.

The painting is complete and when it is dry I can vacuum, put things away and start decorating for Christmas. I wanted to buy stuff this weekend but I had to keep reminding myself, I do not know what I have packed away. Pictures of the update will be available soon. That reminds me I am still looking for washable rugs for the kitchen, is it us or does everyone else really have those expensive rugs in the kitchen that must be sent out to them cleaned. WTF.

We will be giving thanks at home alone and Big Daddy wants to do the whole 9 yards. We will see. I mentioned he might want to contact his mom to see if she would like to go to lunch on the weekend, or we could take her lunch. Whichever, we will see.

I am thinking about making cookies. It could happen.

IBS Strikes again.

Hail from a recent storm, not something we see often on my side of town.

I have been having a terrible time with this issue for the last couple weeks. Stress has been pretty bad so I guess that explains it. I had a melt down 2 nights ago-way too much stress. I was supposed to report out on what we did to make sure this part shipped without defects. And I did not have a clue and the Mexicans were not too eager to explain it to me, even in their favorite Spanglish language. And then there was the disastrous phone call from the Customer to the Quality Manager, you know the one where he told the him he "would give me a talking to" and then asked him if he worked for us. Umm, know I work for THE Customer. Awkward.

And speaking of "giving a talking to" that dude has no idea who he is dealing with.

One thing that I have in my back pocket, no one wants my job. No one with a brain anyway.

Funny of the week,

Email from one of the engineering group telling me I sent him an odd two-dimensional picture that makes no sense and can I go and take another one. Uh, no. You diss the picture come take your own asshole.

Then we were written up for caps falling off the parts. These caps protect the part until installation. It turns out these are the new caps to replace the caps that were too hard to pull off. Hilarious. Then my Quality Manager never responded because she cannot read and missed portion of the document that stated 24 hour response required. I have always thought she was not all that bright.

Punkin Head is heading home to Portland this afternoon and Big Daddy said he is ready to go home. Can't blame him, 7 days is a long time away from home. We are sending him with some truffles that we had at the rehearsal dinner and an early Christmas present. His anniversary was the 3rd and he was here and we are giving them cash so they can fly home to DIL's family for Christmas. Tickets between Portland and Boston skyrocket for the Christmas holidays.

I am hopeful it won't be so long between posts again, work is just killing me. It must be those odd 2 dimensional pics I am taking.

Side Entry and Sideways

These are the Caladiums at the side door, I have had these here for years, such a pleasant surprise to see them again. Those are Cone Flowers in the bed, purple--the orange in the back died. One plant at a time we are coming back.

I finished Lisa Scottolini's book, The Accused, it was not too bad.

I had take-out this week, ham and walnut Quesadilla and you know I can make that at home, just needed the reminder.

I had to go to the meeting from hell this morning and report out. That means I must answer for shit that I might not have a lot of information on. This one, as it was a first at this plant, I screamed and stomped my little feet until I had not only information but back-up. And then I memorized my spiel and repeated it all morning.

It went well and I got thumbs up from the people who knew it was my first. Damn, I hate those meetings.

I had to take extra meds for the IBS and really feel horrible--don't know if it is the something wrong or just huge stress. But I have always worked with stress, so I am worried about the "something wrong". Still waiting for the appointment on June 26, nothing has happened that is worthy of the emergency room. But if that happens, trust me, I will be there.

This weekend flowers and fun.

Detour

Weeping Cherry in front, this is on the downside of blooming.

We had a little snafu last night. The IBS returned with a vengeance. I am starting to think it is partially set off by stress. I have not told you the half of it but I have been under a bit of stress. I am just not sure if it shows up a month later or is like my skin condition and waits a month. But I have the Mt. Etna zit and the IBS at the same time, so who knows. I was up all night and no fun was had at the fair. And I can't go shopping today so that rather fucked up my plans. I checked the Internet to get some control over the shopping and plan on buying a shitload of supplies if I get this job. Say a prayer or think some good thoughts if you are inclined in that direction.

Big Daddy is working in the yard and I must get out there to keep him in line. Sammy Dog is watching him but I have no faith in that match-up.

What a Conundrum

Meaning I have an intricate and difficult problem. Yep, I need to vent about the IBS again.

I admit I have gained weight and need larger clothes. The problem is the bloating that accompanies IBS. Fatter people have bigger bloating than thinner people and in my opinion it is because there is just so much more of you to bloat. I am not sure if bloating is a factor in what one weighs and I attempted to do an experiment on that today.

Here why this is so important to me. Remember the too big jeans that were exchanged for the next size down? Yesterday when I went to the bathroom they just pulled right down. Now I don't remember jeans ever pulling right down, and I mean the buttoned was still buttoned and the zipper was still zipped. I used to wear pants with some elastic type give in the waist to accommodate the bloating and they would come on down without the zippers and buttons on most days. But jeans? Never. Now these jeans have a tad of stretch but not that much. And I wore them a couple times but really. Then today the same thing. Then I ate lunch. Cottage cheese, normal lunch. And then the stomach went south. The bloating began, the cramping and the uncomfortable feeling.

On a whim I decided to weigh myself. According to my scales I have gained 10 pounds in one month and my pants are practically falling off. That just does not seem right. Now I am wondering if red hair dye weighs more than blond hair dye. It is darker.

Big Daddy just called and some asshole in Mexico crashed his tool and now BD has to go Grand Rapids and check something out so he won't be coming home tonight. Hope he remembered to always have a change of clothes or at least underpants in his car. That is the one thing I hated about automotive, everything is an emergency. And he got in so much trouble that time he went to Canada and showed the border guards  his underpants to prove he was spending the night.

This is not right

Weeping Cherry, first is it is too early for this blooming, second is the tree I bought on the recommendation from the nursery was supposed to be tall and skinny, not short and fat. I wonder if the tree got it from me.

I have spent about 5000 on this stupid spot in the yard over the years. I have had the nursery come out and look and help me. I am thinking if we stay here I need to find the "penis statue guys" that were selling yard ornamentation  in New Orleans and go with a nonliving landscape item.

To bring everyone up to date, hair is fabulous, money spent today was painful. I think I have truly become a  Grosse Pointer, I am getting cheap.

Hair charges were fair but made me wince. Next I had to buy a new coffee maker and coffee bean grinder. When the coffee maker started growling this morning it was enough of this appliance talking back shit. The grinder also begrudgingly gave me it's final effort. I have an expensive coffee maker that is in the pantry broken and I need to get that fixed, don't know where and last time it took a month, so I need a coffee maker. 200 bucks later I have a bare minimum coffee maker and new grinder. Off topic but hilarious, my manicurist told me she is now spending 139.00 dollars a year for coffee, from Brueggers, it is such a deal as last year she spent almost 800 dollars on coffee. By the cup. She does not make coffee at home and buys it a cup at a time from "coffee shops". WTF.

IBS kicked in before I could buy any meat.

Mayor Bing, Detroit, on the verge of bankruptcy,  is in the hospital for what is being described as inflamed intestines. Hmm, the doctors are saying it can be caused by stress. No shit.

IBS

Well I bucked up and investigated one of the medications I was not familiar with, Dicetel. I also found quite a bit of information on Irritable Bowel Syndrome and there is more information available than I found a few years ago. Dicetel does not seem too bad when you weigh the symptoms against the "what may happen". When I was a child they had me on phenobarbital and Donnatal, I was so upset when they put our poodle on the same meds for seizures. Then a 10 or so years ago Bentyl, which did nothing. The next was I think Velnorm which I am positive almost killed me.

The only problem with the Dicetel so far is you are supposed to take it with food and I just cannot eat right now. A piece of cheese is about it, and I don't think that is enough. Or perhaps it is my phobia about taking pills. I just hate it. Yuck. And it always scares me when they say you should not take the pills lying down. First, who could? Don't you have to sit up to drink the water? Second, what is the problem, does this shit need gravity to work?

There were a lot of stories on one site of people's experiences with IBS and I have to admit, I did laugh my ass off. It is a terrible disease and very hard to control, but when it is not you, it is hilarious what people go through to hide it. Or what happens when they can't.

I know stress makes mine worse. And eating properly is different for everyone but the main key seems to be eating smaller portions more often. And that is my failure here, access to what I can eat and eating too much when I actually see real food. I have to learn to be satisfied by small portions of nothing with a treat once in a while.

The food poisoning seems to have run its course, so now it is just getting back on track. I wish I could get real yogurt here, and real whole wheat bread.

Yeah, right

Had to start using the blister pack of phony synthroid today. These are the pills that only come in 2 doses and you must cut them to your required dosage. This is not making Mama happy and we all know how that goes. Oh yeah, there are some Chinese people gonna feel the wrath soon. They are not gonna be singing when I am done with them.

Manicure and Pedicure turned out wonderful and it was fun touching base with old friends.

Bought Big Daddy some bath salts that were on deep discount in cute little jars. The one good thing in China is the soaking tub in our apartment and every hotel. The jars are just the right size to take with him and bring back unused bath salts. He asked me if that would be his "Stone Barrington" moment from the Stuart Woods novels. Stuart is always in the tub and BD is following in his footsteps.

BD is making garlic soup for dinner and that is good as the teeth are really starting to ache. I have a special lunch tomorrow so I will be taking the max dose on the Advil a couple of hours before we eat. I can't take them very often as they mess with my IBS and diverticular problems.

Sad news Bubba Smith, Michigan State Alumni and movie star passed today. Sadder news everything on the Detroit media gets worse and worse, Kwame is on his way home to Texas to regroup for his Federal trial. Oh and Aretha Franklin's song writing dude has filed suit against her and she is pissed.

RESPECT.