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So, the plan was:

1. Drop off Ziggy at the vet to get his teeth cleaned


2. Pick up arkuat


3. Go to work


4. Leave work early to get a filling replaced


5. Pick up Ziggy at the vet

1 & 2 went according to plan. 3? Not so much. About half-way to work the car started having power problems - in neutral, the engine would rev just fine, in gear, sometimes there was no power to the wheels. I pulled off to the side of the freeway about three-quarters of the way to work, turned off the car, and opened the hood. Nothing obviously wrong, all the fluids were good. Tried to start the car, and it went tick-tick-tick-tick very rapidly - and didn't start. And then the power windows failed. And then the four-way flashers failed!

arkuat called in to work - one of our colleagues came and got him.

I called my mechanic, and got the phone number for their favorite towing company. Called the towing company, got my car taken to my mechanic. Got a loaner car - I was still going to have to get to the dentist!

Got home, got my work computer plugged in, did some work from home.

About 11:30, I got a phone call from the vet. Ziggy's resting heart rate was 36 - normal would be 70-120. They'd gotten him to do some exercise, to try to get it up - normal then would be up to 130. It stayed at 36. Had we noticed any change in behavior - more tired, lack of appetite, seizures? Nope. Teeth cleaning was canceled - they didn't want to put him under anesthesia with such a slow heart rate! They suspect it might be something called Addison's, which is a low cortisol level. They took blood for tests, we should hear back on that tomorrow. If it's not that, we get to go to a doggy cardiologist. I went and picked him up about 12:15pm.

As of 2:30, the car wasn't fixed, so I took the loaner off to the dentist.

Where I discovered that the appointment I had made last week for half-hour slot at 3pm today wasn't on the books.

They got me set up for a 4pm appointment with one of the other dentists. They actually called me in at 3:51, and were done with me by 4:03.

Then it was off to the mechanic. The car was done - the alternator had died. They had just replaced the alternator last November. They get their alternators from a company that just does alternators, and their experience was that said company had a very high reliability. The new alternator was free - we just had to pay for the tow.

Then I came home and cooked up CSA veggies for dinner. Now we need to take out garbage and recycling, and then I'll get to call it a night.

It was one of those days where the choices were laugh, cry, or curse the universe. I ended up laughing.

I've been up about 33 hours at this point. I'm not used to that any more.

I got up about 10:30am on Sunday and started onions caramelizing in the crockpot - they got turned on about 11:30am. This is supposed to take ~10 hours, it normally runs me 12-14. 24 hours later, they were done. And I really couldn't just go to sleep on them - I wasn't certain when they were going to finish.

After they finished, I ran errands. I came home with lunch, then iraunink and I ran errands. I'm going to bed - I have to get up about 6am tomorrow. Errands included haircut, boot shopping, picking up prescriptions, ordering glasses (3 pair for me, 1 pair for iraunink), and shopping for a new media center. More on that last in a later bottle.

I got a pair of computer glasses (single vision extra power as compared to my standard progressive bifocal lenses) on November 4th. I did not try to use them in Seattle. I started using them this past Monday, the 12th.

I am very happy with them!

They're lousy for get up and walk around - anything more than about six feet away gets very blurry. So, if I'm doing anything significant away from the computer, I change to my regular glasses. When I get back, I immediately switch back to the computer glasses, almost without thinking - they are that much better for my multi-monitor desktop setup.

Did I mention going to papersky's signing at Uncle Hugo's on Sunday? I had a delightful time at it and the meal at the Java Restaurant afterwards (let's see - attended by me, papersky, Z (who's LJ handle I've forgotten), iraunink, naomikritzer, carbonel, arkuat, lydy, dd_b, and pameladean - I would have sworn there were eleven of us, but I can't think of who the eleventh person was).

( Have I mentioned I really like my doctor? )

Wednesday was the weekly Spirit of the Century gaming - Don, Steve W, Dave M (WANOLJ that I know of) and me - we were missing Martin. We were headed into the Amazon jungle, near what is now the border between Colombia and Brazil. We have encountered the Un-Aging Golden Emperor of Rome. This could get interesting.

Thursday was dinner with Don - no Margo, she wasn't feeling well. We cooked an 11 pound bone-in ham.

Friday was dinner with kalmn and her SO (does he have an LJ/DW account?). That was pasta with red sauce, diced ham (left-overs) and green beans, and they brought garlic bread and dessert. Good dinner.

Today was grocery shopping, laundry, and assorted kitchen clean-up. Shopping included Penzey's - we got a free bottle of Cinnamon Sugar, Mural of Flavor, Sunny Paris, Chinese Five-Spice Powder, Bouquet Garni and Italian Herb Mix. Tonight is supposed to be starting caramelized onions in the crock-pot, and Sunday I'm making French Market Soup in the crockpot with the left over ham bone.

Now I'm on Flovent (artificial corticosteroid inhaler) for it. Follow up with my doctor in a month.

Monday a week ago (the 11th), my boss came to us and said "I need two people to work Sunday-Thursday and two to work Tuesday-Saturday, starting October 17th." Normal shift - 7am-4pm - all five days. There are only six of us, one started three weeks after the rest of us and is obviously not ready for solo weekend work, and the lead should probably be one of the Monday-Friday. Obviously, I was going to have to work a weekend day.

I jumped in volunteering for Tuesday-Saturday. That way I get home about 4:30, we head off to Minn-StF (arriving anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00, depending on factors I don't control), and not have to be leaving at 8pm to be getting at 5am to be at work at 7am. With luck, I'll be able to get off this shift in a few months. We'll see what happens.

This worked out nicely for Conjecture - I'd put in to be off October 18th, but didn't have to take it because I got a three-day weekend out of the shift change. One of my colleagues and I swapped today (10/23) and tomorrow (10/24) because I had something today that I'd had scheduled for a month that would be awful to try to move on short notice. Worked out reasonably nicely.

Now I have to arrange to be off Saturday, December 18th - since I'm hosting the Minn-StF Meeting that day!

I renewed my drivers license and car tabs on Monday, 10/18. I was told I'd have my new license within a couple of weeks - I got it today.

Let's see - other than that? Oh, yeah - I really hate muscle cramps! I had a nice tight one in my right calf muscle in the wee hours this morning. iraunink helped massage it out. It still hurt when I got up about 10am. We walked the dogs around the block just before noon - that helped. Then gamers came over, we had a fun session, iraunink & I walked the dogs again - the muscle is much better now!

For anyone who's interested - I didn't go in to work today, and my primary doctor put me on Zithromax. I should be getting my first dose in the next hour or two.

What's your favorite skin cream? I'm having some dry skin issues on my
hands, and don't currently have anything.

When I was diagnosed diabetic lo, these many years ago (my 15th anniversary
of being diagnosed was this last September), the hands-down winner was
Eucerin. Is it still on top, or has something replaced it?

Shortly after Minicon I came down with a cold. Then I gave it to iraunink. Now she's over it, but it's hung on for me - I thought I was pretty much over it last week, but it came back Tuesday with a vengeance. Last night I was running a middling fever and crashed about 7pm, and woke up about 8am this morning.

Blech.

Called the doctor - he prescribed a ZPac for me. I'm hoping for a quick effect.

Today it was annual eye exams for me and iraunink.

Prescriptions essentially unchanged, eyes still look good, no diabetic complications for either of us, I get a glaucoma test and it was just fine (14 on a 13-21 range).

And my eyes were dilated coming home. Two pair of sunglasses made it tolerable - bright sunshine, white snow, glare, the odd headlight. I'm glad my wife was driving. The stars I get are on the order of 10x the diameter of the (semi-)point source causing them.

I'll still have some problems the rest of the day - glad I don't have to go out!