grrgoyl

Well, no sooner was I going to report how well I've been doing with my new diet (lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks, even), when last night I had another attack just as bad as, and certainly lasting longer than, the one that landed me in the ER. Turns out Vicodin has almost no effect on me, so I might as well sell these useless pills for some profit.

It hit me about 8:30 pm. When the worst had passed I went to bed at 9, then woke up about three times in the next 7 hours to note the pain was still there. So I slept the whole night in a sitting position, since lying flat makes it ten times worse.

Tery's co-worker who had surgery informed her that the best I could hope was to delay the attacks. She said they'll go from one every 2-3 weeks to one a week, to the point where I'll be begging for surgery. Terrific.

I've filled out about three applications for assistance with my bills -- oh yeah, they've started pouring in. The highest so far is the ambulance ride for $1100. Plus $550 for my ER stay. $32 for lab tests and $57 for my x-ray (I can swing those). My sister the nurse says I can expect separate bills from the hospital (which I would think counts as the emergency room, but evidently not) as well as the doctor.

The good news is the people who sent those two big bills will take interest-free payments of $50 a month. My worry though is having to pay $50 to 4 or 5 people every month, depending who else crawls out of the woodwork with their hands out. That might become difficult.

So yes, help please. I don't qualify for Medicaid since I'm neither pregnant, unemployed, a veteran or making car payments -- no rewards for keeping my cost of living moderately under control. My beef is why can't I just sign up with one program as uninsured and have any assistance apply to all my bills, why so needlessly complicated? Well, I guess they aren't kidding when they say health care is in a sorry state in this country.

In light of this recent attack, I'm nervous about my plan to soldier through for a year until hopefully my employer's insurance will cover surgery. I don't know that I can stand this kind of pain once a week (or more often) for a year. And you're talking to a girl whose appendix almost ruptured because I only complained of "kind of a stomachache" to my parents for 3 days. Captain Stoic, that's me.

~*~

I still can't tell you if Logan is going to work out or not. He's extremely slowly warming up to me, and usually only if I feed him first. Only a cat has the nerve to hiss and swat at you while begging for food. I can actually pet him as long as Tery is nearby.

The problem isn't me -- the fact that the bird is still here is evidence of how much weight my opinion holds. No, unfortunately it's Francesca Sofia, who is learning how empty our promise is that she had the last word on his status.

The people who say getting two strange cats to eat together is a big step towards successful integration are full of crap. They eat together all the time. It doesn't stop the occasional fracas, which seems to depend largely on the time of day -- mostly my first hour of work in the morning, and at night when we're settling in for sleep.

We think Logan is just playing, but Kitten doesn't see it that way at all. She hunches down, ears flattened, making these hair-raising noises that sound like she's being raped and skinned alive simultaneously: truly one of the most horrible sounds you'll ever hear in your lifetime. Logan is tragically inept at interpreting this seemingly crystal clear body language.

Our sympathy has waned considerably when we realized that, in our 940-square foot condo, she pigheadedly repeatedly goes to find him instead of, I don't know, sticking to the 900+ feet of real estate where she can't see him. "AHA! I found you! And as a reminder...I STILL HATE YOU!"



For now, he's keeping his bags packed just in case:



Best case scenario, we're going to end up with two diabetic cats with eating disorders: Logan because he's got a stray cat appetite, Kitten because she's stress eating.

~*~

Really quickly, why I can't use my new Windows 7 computer yet.

My employer's software doesn't work with Windows 7. So I jumped through all these hoops and installed Win 7 Professional to be able to set up a WinXP virtual mode. Which runs the software perfectly.

HOWEVER. Since my life is never simple, this isn't the end of the story. Also critical to my work is a foot pedal for controlling the dictations (which can also be done with keyboard commands, but that would be so ponderous and difficult my production rate would be halved). Despite plugging in with a USB connection, apparently the pedal is considered an HID (human interface device), which, naturally, isn't recognized by the virtual environment. HA!

So we have a really expensive Facebook-checking tool for now. On the bright side, perhaps by the time my employer becomes Win7 friendly, Microsoft will have worked out the surprising number of incompatibilities I've already encountered in my few short hours playing around.

Which begs the question: Where does Microsoft get off releasing software that doesn't recognize technology that's been working fine for years?

~*~

Now for some movie reviews (as always, cut for possible spoilers):

( ::Where the Wild Things Are:: )

The movie features the creature work of Jim Henson's Workshop, with CGI facial animation so seamless I couldn't see it. Max Records has the face of a boyish angel, but the truly rambunctious streak of a wild thing. The script has the vaguely nonsensical quality of a fairy tale, and evokes the aching sadness of the last summer of childhood before the first awareness of responsibility sets in.

4 out of 5 stars. Oh, and I totally want an adult-sized Max wolf suit.

( ::Avatar:: )

I left the theater the minute the credits started to roll, because this is a slam dunk Blu-ray purchase.

Naturally I spent today reading what others thought on RottenTomatoes.com. Overwhelmingly favorable, but a few critics just couldn't get past the derivative plot ("Dances with Wolves in space") or the "environmentalist tree-hugging" message. They pooh-poohed the groundbreaking technology used, said it was overrated and that the movie wouldn't stand up to repeat viewings. I was made uncomfortable by the movie's defenders calling it the Star Wars of our time. That's what they said about The Fifth Element and that seemed to sort of fizzle out.

Of course let's not forget the blatantly obvious similarities to Iraq, or Vietnam, or the pilgrims on the Mayflower, or any other situation in our history when people with superior military force bulldozed over the weaker indigenous population.

I loved the movie because it was escapism at its purest (plus I hated Dances with Wolves and think it can only be improved upon, mainly by using anyone besides Kevin Costner) -- when I left the theater, I felt a wave of sadness that I had to go back to stupid old Earth. I wanted to live on Pandora, and better yet be a 10-foot tall, feline, graceful, fierce Na'vi. Experiencing that feeling is what movies were invented for, if you ask me.

4.5 out of 5 stars