February 24, 2006
Where the Hell is the Hospital in Federal Way?
So, just when I was getting back in the swing of things--BAM! My father-in-law went back into the hospital with chest pains. He was driving home and pulled over because he couldn't drive anymore. Instead of calling 911, he called his wife who immediately told him to hang up and call an aide car.
In a quick aside; have you ever heard an ambulance called an "aide car"? I never had until now, and everyone--including Frinklin who has NEVER used that term in the five years we have known eachother--is looking at me funny when I say I've never heard it before. Anyway...
After arguing with Frinklin's mother for a half hour over who would drive to the hospital. The logic of driving 1/2 hour away from the hospital to her house and then back escaped me and finally she saw the light.
Once at the ER, I chatted with Frinklin's grandmother, who was staying with the in-laws. An EKG confirmed that the pain did not appear to be another heart attack. We eventually left the hospital at midnight with no more news and no father-in-law, who was hooked up to a morphine drip for the night.
Phone calls flew back and forth all the next day as test were performed and still no answers were forthcoming. Finally they found that it was an intestinal blockage, not an arterial one, and began treatment. Fortunately he did not require surgery, and appears to be almost back to normal now, a week later.
Panic averted. Sleep caught up on. Blogging commences.
PS - Violet, I owe you a phone call. Sorry I didn't get back to you, but there was this whole potential heart attack issue...I'll call this weekend. Love you!
February 17, 2006
Frigid
If I thought it was cold before, I was wrong. The weather report showed temperatures of -5 degrees last night with the wind chill. The wind is arctic air blowing off the ocean. White Pass was -68 degrees! That's MINUS 68 degrees at the summit. Did I accidentally move to Antarctica?!
The weather man currently on TV is reporting that we will see temps in the single digits near the Puget Sound which could feel as low as -10 as the wind continues to blow.
I know for those of you living in truly cold places are probably laughing at me and my wussiness when it comes to freezing temperatures. However, the coldest I've ever been is about 22 degrees. I can't even imagine anything lower, but it sounds like I'll get to feel it. Please send warm thoughts for my pipes (no bursting!) and for the 50,000 people in the area without power (and without heat in many cases). I'm contemplating bringing a couple of neighborhood outdoor cats into our house for the night.
February 15, 2006
The Olympics Are Eating My Life
The Ensie/Frinklin household is officially Olympics obsessed. There was no dinner out last night--the men's figure skating was on!
Actually, we love to watch, but we love to fast forward through the boring parts even more. We've begun skipping the first hour of NBC's Olympic coverage in favor of the Daily Show and Cobert Report. Recording that first hour of sports on the DVR allows us to begin viewing at nine and miss the idiotic stories and boring events we could care less about.
The only issue that I've run into is that my fingers are trigger-happy while watching anything else on TV. I'm just going to have to record everything from now on and watch on delay.
In other news--Qwest's telephone service blows. We've had nothing but problems since we moved in. We're switching to Comcast's digital phone service in two weeks. Happily, this (hopefully) better service is twenty bucks a month cheaper. I don't love Comcast, but better service at a better price works for me.
Along that same line--Frinkin has switched wireless phone service and now has a fancy Razr.
February 08, 2006
Judeau
I haven't written much about my trip home to San Diego, but I wanted to take a minute to mention my sister's new cat, Judeau. He is the most bipolar cat I have ever met in my entire life.
Meeting Judeau, then called "Boo" was fun. Katie brought my mother and myself to her new place of employment where she works with a theraputic riding program. Also included under the banner of the organization is an adoption center for dogs and cats. After a four month stay in an Arizona shelter, then Boo had been transferred to San Diego to improve his chances of finding a home.
Katie informed me that she had been watching the cat since his arrival and wanted to show him to us. We willingly went (MISTAKE!) and I encouraged her to take him into one of the private rooms to greet him one-on-one (MISTAKE!). The sweetest thing you ever saw, he glided out of the cat carrier and happily meowed and rubbed his cheeks against my sister's hand. Mom, Katie, and I shared a look and we all knew that we were adopting a new cat that day.
The agency waived the meet-all-members-of-the-family requirement, which was good, as my father had voiced his opinion recently that the household should be reducing the number of animals, not increasing. With the addition of Judeau there now have six cats, one dog, and two horses--much lower than our peak numbers of seven cats, four dogs, four sheep, three birds, four horses, two rats, a turtle, and an iguana. Dad was on a business trip for the next couple of days and we figured, correctly, it turns out, that he would give in once we all informed him matter-of-factly that a new cat had taken up residence.
Judeau's beautiful eyes are the clearest blue I've ever seen. He appears to be full-blooded Siamese, although not the creepy show cat variety. He looks like this:
We figured that once home, he would spend some time separated from the menagerie, and spend lots of time being petted and loved.
We were wrong.
The instant we loosed him in Katie's bedroom he disappeared into the far corner of the closet and started growling. No amount of food or cajoling would budge him. Any attempts to touch him were met with teeth and slashing motions that would have been deadly except that he had been declawed on all four feet. For three days he lived in closets and under beds, eating only when no one could see him.
On the fourth morning Judeau appeared to have a change of heart and wandered around the bedroom completely at ease, meowing and rubbing against furniture. We all thought he had settled down (MISTAKE!). Growling and hissing ensued whenever anyone came close.
By the fifth morning he would allow us to sit a few feet away while he ate, eventually bestowing upon us a rub against a finger or a shoe. One should not, however, believe that this was an invitation to pet the cat in any way. All petting must be done passively, in the form of standing still while the cat find places he enjoys touching. Hands should preferably not be visible during this time.
I'm told he is much the same now. Although Judeau enjoys being around people and has begun purring, he does not invite any touching unless he initiates it. And sometimes he'll go ahead and bite you even as he purrs.
February 07, 2006
February 06, 2006
Vote for me!
This is a cool promo campaign for the new title Prayers for the Assassin.
Click the link and contribute to my campaign! Naomi Barlett for President-for-Life!