Random Rants 91 - Semiprimal Rage

[Valka D'Ur]

I had a really fun night last night... NOT.

Got up from bed to go to the computer, had a dizzy spell, lost my balance, fell down, broke a storage bin and some of the stuff in it AND fell on Maddy's litterbox (thankfully nothing got spilled on the floor)... and broke the litterbox.

Fortunately my new medic alert thing does work, since I had a very hard time getting up, and somebody came to help.

Everything hurts, but thankfully I didn't need the hospital.

Also fortunately, I'd bought Maddy a new litterbox a few weeks ago, just because I do replace them every so often. So now she has a lovely new purple bathroom.

@Sofista: I find myself wondering if your "like" is because I fell and hurt myself (my left arm and leg are now interesting shades of purple and ache constantly) or because Maddy has a new litterbox.

 

[thetrooper]

@Sofista is not teh evil. Def litterbox like.

 

[tjs282]

This is basically why I rarely/never drop Likes on actual Rant-posts in these threads: even if my intention was to express support/sympathy, it could easily be mis-understood as the opposite.

(I'm glad Maddy got a new litter-box, though!)

 

[Sofista]

@Sofista: I find myself wondering if your "like" is because I fell and hurt myself (my left arm and leg are now interesting shades of purple and ache constantly) or because Maddy has a new litterbox.

I have liked quite a few of your posts in the past. We have disagreed sometimes, but I never thought of you negatively. I'm sorry if I have led you to believe that.

I sympathize, very much. Since August I've been experiencing a tinnitus that grows in intensity as the day progresses, and messes with my equilibrium to the point that I have also started falling. Last time was last Thursday. I know the pain, the confusion, the lasting bruises.
So please, take it in the spirit it's offered: I'm sorry you fell and hurt yourself, I know very well how it is.

(If Maddy is happy to get new stuff, hey, you go girl!)

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I have liked quite a few of your posts in the past. We have disagreed sometimes, but I never thought of you negatively. I'm sorry if I have led you to believe that.

I sympathize, very much. Since August I've been experiencing a tinnitus that grows in intensity as the day progresses, and messes with my equilibrium to the point that I have also started falling. Last time was last Thursday. I know the pain, the confusion, the lasting bruises.
So please, take it in the spirit it's offered: I'm sorry you fell and hurt yourself, I know very well how it is.

(If Maddy is happy to get new stuff, hey, you go girl!)

Thank you. I was pretty sure you weren't happy I had a fall, and yes, we've had disagreements. But I never thought they were serious enough that you'd be happy that something bad happened to me.

It just came across a bit weird, and I figured I should take it in the spirit of being happy that Maddy got some benefit out of this, as I talk about her often.

And yeah tinnitus is awful, and you have my sympathies. "Sound of silence" takes on a whole new meaning.

Do you use any mobility aids? I use a walker outside the apartment and canes on the bad days inside. I'm keeping them very close to me lately.

When Maddy noticed her new litterbox, it was interesting. She knew it wasn't the old one, as of course they didn't smell the same. Even with regular cleaning, the plastic absorbs odors, which is why I replace her box every so often anyway. So she sniffed it a bit suspiciously, I told her, "That's your new bathroom - use it!", so she did.

All is normal in her world again, mostly. She'll be happy on Christmas, as I got her some cat milk as her Christmas treat.

 

[Gelion]

I also understood the like that its a good thing that you didn't need a hospital and had a replacement box ready. It just goes to show that interpretation of a person's intent is very very approximate in a digital world.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I also understood the like that its a good thing that you didn't need a hospital and had a replacement box ready. It just goes to show that interpretation of a person's intent is very very approximate in a digital world.

To be a bit clearer, I was really shaken up by this whole thing - literally, as well as emotionally, and my interpretation of online interactions can be a bit quick at such times, when I haven't taken enough time to think before reacting.

The guys who came in response to my medic alert wanted to be very certain that I wouldn't need the hospital, and of course I didn't want to go there unless I absolutely had to. Hospitals are stressful at the best of times, and we've got an idiotic government here that seems to decide to open everything up just as the new covid strains are really taking off. Plus the fact that Maddy's alternate caregiver was recently in the hospital for surgery and I didn't know if she'd be available... yeah, I definitely want to avoid hospitals as much as possible these days. I'd have gone if something was broken, but fortunately nothing was.

 

[Gelion]

To be a bit clearer, I was really shaken up by this whole thing - literally, as well as emotionally, and my interpretation of online interactions can be a bit quick at such times, when I haven't taken enough time to think before reacting.

It took me literal years not to try to be moved things like this. From personal experience I have noticed that I pay an abnormal amount of emotions to these things and after having compared myself to how I was before the internet I found a solution to always interpret these things to 50% capacity and always picking the best well-meaning option from the ones that I saw.

The guys who came in response to my medic alert wanted to be very certain that I wouldn't need the hospital, and of course I didn't want to go there unless I absolutely had to. Hospitals are stressful at the best of times, and we've got an idiotic government here that seems to decide to open everything up just as the new covid strains are really taking off. Plus the fact that Maddy's alternate caregiver was recently in the hospital for surgery and I didn't know if she'd be available... yeah, I definitely want to avoid hospitals as much as possible these days. I'd have gone if something was broken, but fortunately nothing was.

You did the right thing, hospitals are not the place to be at the moment I've had to try to avoid going to the doctor for less important things. I think I did the right thing...

 

[Sofista]

Thank you. I was pretty sure you weren't happy I had a fall, and yes, we've had disagreements. But I never thought they were serious enough that you'd be happy that something bad happened to me.

It just came across a bit weird, and I figured I should take it in the spirit of being happy that Maddy got some benefit out of this, as I talk about her often.

I have my flaws, but I'm not quite a mustache-twirling cartoon villain, created by mixing Skeletor and Dick Dastardly's DNA!

I'm happy to hear any good news about Maddy. I always had good experiences with cats, would probably have one myself, but as I smoke at home it would just be selfish. So I just like to hear about other people's pets.

And yeah tinnitus is awful, and you have my sympathies. "Sound of silence" takes on a whole new meaning.

Do you use any mobility aids? I use a walker outside the apartment and canes on the bad days inside. I'm keeping them very close to me lately.

So far I haven't needed any aid - I'm, how to say, high-functioning until 4-5 p.m., and haven't yet fallen in public. By sundown it's a wholly different story, but as I really don't feel like doing anything once the evening falls, I just stay home, moving around the house with the speed and resolve of the average nonagenarian.

When Maddy noticed her new litterbox, it was interesting. She knew it wasn't the old one, as of course they didn't smell the same. Even with regular cleaning, the plastic absorbs odors, which is why I replace her box every so often anyway. So she sniffed it a bit suspiciously, I told her, "That's your new bathroom - use it!", so she did.

All is normal in her world again, mostly. She'll be happy on Christmas, as I got her some cat milk as her Christmas treat.

Is it like plastic bottles, they cannot be used anymore after some time?
There could, I think, be more lasting alternatives, (maybe there are, I haven't been to a pet shop since my myna bird died, a long time ago) like glass or glazed pottery - but they would be both heavier and frailer.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I have my flaws, but I'm not quite a mustache-twirling cartoon villain, created by mixing Skeletor and Dick Dastardly's DNA!

I'm happy to hear any good news about Maddy. I always had good experiences with cats, would probably have one myself, but as I smoke at home it would just be selfish. So I just like to hear about other people's pets.

I commend you for your consideration toward pets. It does bother me to see people smoking around cats. They have such little lungs, and can't tell us about when they have pain related to cancer until it's too late. I lost both a cat and dog to cancer (my dad smoked like a chimney in the house and didn't take it outside until I asked him point-blank one day: "Why are you trying to kill me?").

So far I haven't needed any aid - I'm, how to say, high-functioning until 4-5 p.m., and haven't yet fallen in public. By sundown it's a wholly different story, but as I really don't feel like doing anything once the evening falls, I just stay home, moving around the house with the speed and resolve of the average nonagenarian.

[public service announcement] Home is where most accidents happen. [/public service announcement]

Is it like plastic bottles, they cannot be used anymore after some time?
There could, I think, be more lasting alternatives, (maybe there are, I haven't been to a pet shop since my myna bird died, a long time ago) like glass or glazed pottery - but they would be both heavier and frailer.

There are so many different designs of litterboxes, I couldn't begin to answer this. Some are really heavy-duty plastic and complex to the point of needing YouTube tutorials to tell you how to assemble them. Some are either electric or battery-operated (the self-cleaning ones). Some are disposable/compostable, as they're made from some kind of cardboard (the type that would be handy if you're traveling and staying over somewhere or if you happen to luck out on a hotel that allows cats).

Litterboxes have become a "system" - not only the box, but each one takes a specific type and size of liner, if you use liners. I do, since I don't want to be constantly scrubbing the box itself (it was different when my dad and I lived in our house; he'd take them out to the back yard and wash them out with the hose).

Cats' olfactory senses are much more acute than humans' so even if I've become "nose-blind" (as the commercials call it), the cat hasn't. Plastic does absorb odors over time, even when you clean it regularly.

I'd never use glass or ceramic for a litterbox. My accident is in itself an excellent reason not to - I fell on top of the litterbox, and it broke. Everything I fell on was made of plastic, and that was bad enough. I'd hate to think of falling on something made of glass. I might very well have needed the hospital if that had been the case. I'm just really thankful I didn't hit my head on the metal filing cabinet. Another foot over, and I would have.

 

[The_J]

My ex' mother got admitted to hospital today, due to intestinal obstruction, she'll be operated tomorrow or the day after. Depending on the exact type of obstruction, there's a 5-30% chance she'll not make it.
I think during her 2nd last visit her dad got into hospital (and this time she only arrived 2 days ago).
She's really unlucky and I'm really sad for her now.
I hope everything goes well with the surgery.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Hypocrisy, thy name is government: UCP host Christmas party at Edmonton restaurant hours after Kenney calls on Albertans to limit gatherings in response to Omicron variant

In other words, they get to party. Normal people don't. Not that I personally have any Christmas parties planned (though they used to have pizza parties here in the building when they hired a Santa for the kids), but it's the sheer hypocrisy and arrogance that is just stunning. This is by far not the only time they've issued new rules about gathering and masking, while flaunting them themselves.

 

[tjs282]

Taking a leaf out of BoJo's book... Bloody typical.

 

[EgonSpengler]

It turns out that Hailee Steinfeld's "Flashlight" is not a cover of the Parliament song.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Apparently, Betty White just died.

 

[Birdjaguar]

She was 99.

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, yes she did and yes, yes she was.

 

[Arakhor]

Literally older than sliced bread.

 

[Kyriakos]

Literally older than sliced bread.

Isn't the queen also to be 99 next year?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Isn't the queen also to be 99 next year?

She'll be 96 in April, so she still has a few years before she's a century (hopefully she makes it that long).

Charles is 73, according to the same quick google search.