Life's journey

Back again

2008-08-14T02:46:20Z

Well, if anyone missed me, I was off line for a couple of days - nasty Trojan virus called 'Fake_Alert'. Took three different anti-virus programs and some serious searching of the hard drive to get it gone. Still have a slight issue, but the actual virus is gone, thank Gnu.

Gonna get back to regular work in the morning - finally.

Not where I wanted to be

2008-08-10T20:47:37Z

Stamina-wise, that is.

SIGH.

Oh, well, I think it was a combination of the antibiotics kicking my butt and still not being really up to par after the second surgery. Anyway, the event yesterday that I carpooled to was rather small and laid back - thank goodness. I don't think I could have handled anything more. I still didn't do well -had to crash out in the vehicle for part of the afternoon, just before the thunderstorm made the environment more livable. Probably the weather did not help me any, also. After it started and then stopped raining three times, my ride decided to just go home - so we did. I finally got in a good position at a rest break half way home, and was able to nap for most of the rest of the trip.

Got home, unloaded my little bit of stuff and ate a little bit then hid in my bedroom with the A/C on and crashed out hard. Had to get up several times during the night, but was able to go back to sleep quickly each time - and then this morning was able to sleep in until probably 10:30 or so.

Gonna make an early night of it tonight, also - watch the Olympics some, but when I can't stay awake, off goes the TV. I can catch highlights later when I am not so fatigued.

Meme (times three)

2008-08-08T19:38:08Z

I Am A: Lawful Neutral Human Druid (7th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-10

Dexterity-13

Constitution-11

Intelligence-15

Wisdom-14

Charisma-14

Alignment:
Lawful Neutral A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs him. Order and organization are paramount to him. He may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or he may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Lawful neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot. However, lawful neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all freedom, choice, and diversity in society.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Druids gain power not by ruling nature but by being at one with it. They hate the unnatural, including aberrations or undead, and destroy them where possible. Druids receive divine spells from nature, not the gods, and can gain an array of powers as they gain experience, including the ability to take the shapes of animals. The weapons and armor of a druid are restricted by their traditional oaths, not simply training. A druid's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Pennsic News Flash

2008-08-06T12:24:41Z

Okay, the 'secret' is out. :-D I so hope that there are pictures!

Yesterday afternoon Their Majesties East just happened to stop by Herald's Point as Istvan Wreath was finishing up a class on OSCAR - the electronic commentary system he created. They then posed him a question, to be answered Thursday night, and sent him on vigil for the Order of the Pelican.

I know this because I have been a small part of the conspiracy for a few months, now. Robin Codex called me when the asking had happened, and then later he called me again and walked the phone into the vigil area. I spent a few minutes talking to Istvan on a 'virtual vigil visit'. He was totally floored, especially by the broad range of people he could see waiting to talk to him - he counted five Kingdoms through the partially open door while we were talking.

A really neat thing is that Thursday is his birthday, so he will NEVER forget the date! heeheehee. :-)

Robin had made him a wooden bench - called the Group W bench - because a few years ago they had both decided neither of them would ever be elevated and were feeling relegated to the bench.

Ha!

So, major good news from Pennsic - and you heard it here first, I hope!

Edit:

Istvan Wreath is fosveny and Robin Codex is alphaggek

Silly news article from overseas

2008-07-28T16:29:57Z

It's nice to know that stupid is world-wide - I was beginning to think that the US had the corner on idiots.

According to this article from the BBC, howeve: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7489457.stm ; the British have their own brand of village idiot roaming freely.

Just wanted to share.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone.

And then there were two . . .

2008-07-25T04:03:28Z

So, a friend told another friend about my losing two cats suddenly, as well as the acquisition of a new kitten.

Second friend has a sister w/family who had a cat (kitten in January - now year old cat) that was being left at home 8 to 10 hours a day, and they felt that it would be better to find a good home for cat rather than get a second one for companionship. Was I interested? You bet!

Sid is a great kitten, but he needs lots of companionship, and when I even go to the Post Office or grocery store, I get the 'you abandoned me' attitude when I get home. Two weeks of me being gone in September - definitely need another feline for company!

So, Kit (Kit Carson) is now here. Beautiful long-ish hair gray cat, larger than Sid by virtue of age. I think that Sid will be about the same size when he grows up over the next few months. They had already gotten the basic shots and neutering was done in January.

We have had about two days of hiding and hissing and growling, along with a few instances of chasing, but nothing horrendous. No breakage of fragile items on shelves and no bloody noses, so I think that both of them will settle down in a day or two.

penumbren stopped by after work today, to meet the new member of the family, and we spent some time petting and talking to Kit. I think that a new name will happen, but for now Kit will do. Sid kept trying to play, and at one point we think they were actually playing and not fighting. Kit kept growling, even when he really wanted to be petted, and after penumbren left the growling pretty much ceased.

Another very sad day

2008-07-10T14:01:19Z

It is almost 8 am - and I am going to be taking Attila to the vet in a few minutes. He got up on my bed last night - something he has not done for over a week - and lay near me for quite a long time. He finally let me look at him, and I discovered he had bloody saliva coming from both sides of his mouth! So, he is not going to be coming home, either - the poor boy is hurting and I cannot stand that! He looks quite a bit like Cappuchino did, which means his kidneys are shutting down, as well.

SNIFF

Eighteen plus years with him and twenty plus with Cappuchino - they were both with me for so long.

And the rollercoaster continues!!!!

2008-07-09T12:37:59Z

Well, after the sadness of losing a great friend and companion, the joy of FINALLY getting everything done for the London trip. I ended up on the phone with the reservations gal, and stayed on the phone while she tried to put through the charge - for the third time! It worked! YAY!!!

So, all the pieces are in place for London - transportation to and from, housing while there and the event fees are ALL completely paid for!

Happy Dance!!!

Sad tidings

2008-07-08T05:19:21Z

Well, after a sudden decrease in both weight and general demeanor, I have decided that Cappuchino is going to the vet in the morning, probably not to return.

SIGH.

She had 20 plus good years, though, so this will be a peaceful end to whatever is ailing her.

Much as I admire those who do the whole heroic measures thing, I feel that at her age it is better to put her in a happier place where she can chase whatever she wants without tottering, falling over and generally making ME feel awful as well.

Just today she started lying with her chin IN the water dish, resting on the edge. I know it is warm, but she is not running a fever that I can tell. I think she is just tired and wants to sleep forever.

One other thing at the demo yesterday

2008-06-29T17:31:40Z

During one of the bouts in the afternoon, I saw something I have never seen before, in 20+ years of watching all sorts of SCA fighting.

At the moment of a double kill, if the bout had not ended precisely then, there would have been a 'hold' called. The reason?

A peacock was strolling across the open grassy area. There are several peacocks (and peahens) that wander the Zoo grounds. This would have been the first time I have ever seen a 'wildlife crossing' hold called (would that be a 'fowl crossing'?)!

Later in the day, when there were no fighters out at all, three peacocks sauntered by, pecking at the grassy area near the flower beds and taking a drink from the waterfall pool. Very pretty sight.

During the day, when the pipes and drums were not playing, you could sometimes hear the peacocks calling. It is a very eerie sound - almost like a child in distress on occasion. Fortunately, I knew this and also knew that there were peacocks on the grounds. Some other people were not so well-informed, and the noise startled quite a few folk.

Yesteday was not bad!

2008-06-29T14:30:36Z

Well, the day started out early - birds chirping and sun shining at gawd-awful 5:30 am and I couldn't get back to sleep!

So, I got up and dressed and did the usual morning things as well as packing up the van with everything I thought I might need for the event. After that, I was able to nap for an hour or so, until leaving to get penumbren and go to the site.

Got there and found that I had been right in my concerns - the event steward had not gotten porta potties for the campers. She thought the Zoo was getting them and the Zoo thought the Shire was getting them - especially as the camping area was outside the actual Zoo grounds, on the grass verge on one end of the parking lot. Ambiance? not so much. But all the 'cool stuff' all day was inside the Zoo.

The Highland Games was VERY well attended - six different pipe bands in the competitions, lots of individual entries as well in the pipe and drum competitions. The other games - tossing the caber, throwing the hammer and several others - also went well from all we were told.

The Shire was in the Sensory Garden at the Zoo - a really nice grassy area surrounded by plants and a waterfall pond at one end. Lots of walkways and places around the edges for people to sit, so a good area for the fighting demos. No shade, however. Luckily, my man-at-arms had a sunshade he had just purchased in his vehicle and set it up so that me and penumbren didn't melt away. Once the shade was up, we were actually quite comfortable all day, with a wonderful view of all the different fighting demos - hard suit and rapier. We were both able to visit with lots of people, and we even did a little bit of consulting! One name submission paid for, one household badge designed and conflict-checked - online, more on that in a moment! - and one name discussed and notes made for future work.

On the other side of the garden area from us were all the demo/display tables the Shire had set up. Those were manned all day by a variety of people, and seemed to be popular. More of our folks were all around the circular paths talking with the passers-by, so we did get a lot of good contact going. HL Giovanni - coordinator between the Games and the Shire - lost his voice after just a couple rounds of demo fighting, but he said that we did really well and the Games next year will likely want us back. I hope that we don't have the whole camping thing again - that was just a waste of our camping event, in my opinion. As a demo, wonderful, as an event, not so much.

The Zoo has a pretty robust wi-fi network, and penumbren was able to utilize it to get online and do stuff - we looked up Saint Gabriel reports and conflict checked the badge proposal, which made the clients very happy overall. Both of us were on computer all day - there was a power point right next to where we were set up, so we DID find a 'current bush' , since it was inside the actual flower bed area. :-D

Other than that, not too much happened. We visited with folks, shared the shade with some who needed it at times, got food brought to us when asked and generally just hung out on the edges. There was a concert at the end of the afternoon, and while we could not see the ampitheater due to the landscaping, we could certainly hear all the music, so that was extremely nice.

And then, after packing up and dropping penumbren off at home, I went home and basically collapsed for a while - I still get very tired very easily.

I got a phone call later, asking me to come back to penumbren's place. There had been a kitten hanging around her trailer for several days - trying to get in all the time and succeeding a couple of times - that she had been feeding outside and was hoping I could take home. My two cats are both elderly and I really don't expect them to live much longer - 18 and 20 are OLD for housecats. I have, over the years, had lots of cats and almost all of them have been strays that adopted me, so this was no surprise that I would get a kitten offered to me at this point in time.

So, I went back down to the trailer court and got the kitten - my cat carrier was still there as they had used it to move last month - and went home. I had started feeding my two kitten food to try and get them bulked up a bit - they were both skin and bones, so that means no need to change diet for a little while. I estimate four months - if that - in age. Very pretty and fuzzy, purrs loudly when held and has been giving me licks and little love nips when being petted and held. I'll get a picture later, I hope.

Attilla sniffed noses, eventually, and rolled over and went back to sleep. Cappuchino has been a little more standoff-ish, and a little hissy, but not bad. The kitten is sticking to me - she slept with me most of the night, and is very happy to be in a safe place, I think.

NO name yet - Cuddles seems right for now, but I am sure a good name will occur sooner or later. A Vet visit will definitely happen later this week, just to be safe, of course, but last night and today are for settling in and getting comfortable with the other cats.

So, this morning it is some pulls for Jeanne Marie for her last full Wreath meeting - next month is a split with Istvan - and then just diddling around most of the day.

Well, that was a fun event

2008-06-24T00:33:13Z

Even if I only attended one day of the five day event that is Uprising in Artemisia, I had a grand time. The weather was hot and rather humid, but it was not so bad that we were having loads of medical crises (I hope - I didn't hear of any, and no emergency cries to make SURE people were drinking enough water and getting into shade happened).

The Herald's Point was in a different spot from last year, I was told, and there was no power, so I ran the laptop on battery when I needed to look stuff up and hibernated it between times. I ran pretty much through both of my batteries, but made it last all day, so I did something right.

Lots of good things at Point, several VERY happy submitters. No real drama, a few people a little disappointed that they couldn't get what they wanted registered right away - somehow the notion of 'instant registration' had been planted in their heads. NO idea where that came from, but after carefully explaining the process they did the research and took home paperwork to finalize. No power also meant no copies of completed forms, so very little was actually submitted. A few people had consulted earlier in the event and left site to get copies made, apparently, but those who stopped by on Saturday were only able to fill out one form for name and one for device (Outline, of course) before going away to finish later in their home group.

The Baronial Herald who was running the Point is rather new - he had only brought 15 copies of the device form for a five day event that frequently (over the last decade, anyway) produces 35 to 50 submissions. He now knows better. :-D AND, next year we should have a copier available, at least nearby, so that once things are ready for copying, that can happen and people can turn everything in rather than wander off feeling like they haven't really accomplished what they intended.

I got to see lots of people I had not seen for some time - a couple of years in a few cases - and show off my new walking skills. NO cane, and able to walk around the merchant area slowly but surely. Was lots of fun to have people hug and congratulate me - some got to see the scars, even. A few were surprised at how tall I am, because I was not stooped using a cane or leaning on a chair all the time. Very happy stuff.

Court was good, but very long - two peerage ceremonies, and a Knighting on the field before that. Much good theater of all types.

I did not do bad on the drive down, or back - I did not camp this year, but motelled it - and next year I hope to be camping so I can enjoy all the aspects of Artemisia that is Uprising.

Birthday wishes

2008-05-26T15:35:52Z

Since I, apparently, don't know how to post into other people's journals:

Hippo birdies to ewe
Hippo birdies to ewe
Hippo birdies dear ladycaviar
Hippo birdies to you

Be VERY glad that I am not singing this to you in person - as a good friend who IS a trained vocalist once said 'You sing barely-tone!' :-D

Best wishes for the day - contact me sometime, you hear?

General update

2008-05-24T00:25:05Z

And about time, I guess.

I am fine, the cats are fine, the house is fine (well, the kitchen roof still has a leak) and Billings has not been blown away or washed away.

We have picked up over 2 inches of rain in the past 48 hours, with at least another inch forecast through Sunday, possibly more. Since we were at a deficit of 4 inches, this is good for the farmers and also the fire danger, but not so good for my kitchen ceiling. SIGH.

Has not been a lot going on, but there might be some news later today, nationally, about Billings. Yes, there was a small plane crash, no it was not anywhere near me. A mail plane crashed just after takeoff about 1:30 this morning - still way too early to know what happened. Only one casualty, the pilot - he hit an empty business and missed nearby residences by yards.

I live WELL above the flood plain area of Billings, so that is not a concern for me locally. There are small stream flood watches and warnings out for much of the state, but there are also Winter Storm warnings out for parts of the mountain ranges, as well! Cooke City, which is over 6,000 feet, has been getting a lot of snow - 20 inches or better - out of this storm. The paper had a quote from a snowplow driver that it was snowing harder than they could plow - they try to clear Beartooth Highway by Friday of the Memorial Day but this year that might be difficult.

Other than that, not much going on. I am staying warm and dry, the cats are fine - sleeping a lot, but at their ages that is to be expected - and the paperwork keeps rolling along. :-)

Egg might die - less than a day to live

2008-05-02T04:30:04Z

Please to click!

Eggs need help hatching

2008-04-30T18:25:39Z

They all need clicks to live! Please click away!

Thanks!

and one more to take the place of the dead one!

2008-04-29T06:07:12Z

Another Egg!

2008-04-28T08:44:06Z

Click away!

Another egg!

2008-04-27T00:16:32Z

I seem to have added an egg, making a total of three. I didn't know I was such a good thief! :-)

EDIT: *sniff* I guess bright pink was too good - not a heraldic color, like the others? Anyway, back to two eggs, green and gold.

For anyone interested in dragon eggs

2008-04-26T16:15:06Z

Here are mine, so far - they both need clicks to live!

http://dragcave.ath.cx/user/44960

Thanks!

Stealing an egg!

2008-04-25T15:02:29Z

Writer's Block: Here's the Skinny...

2008-04-20T17:13:37Z

Have you ever been skinny dipping?

View other answers

Preening and feeling very good about myself

2008-04-16T15:58:21Z

Well, a quick sketch I did at Crown for a submitter as a suggestion for armory has really shown that I do know what I am talking about!

The gentleman told me he was having problems coming up with a design and gave me the tinctures and charges he wanted. I thought about it for maybe 30 seconds and grabbed one of my write-and-wipe mini-boards and did a quick 'blob heraldry' sketch for a rough idea. He LOVED it, as did his lady wife. He went away with some blank forms and drew it up - along with some alternate ones with varying tinctures. He came back with my original idea and I did a static conflict check on the 11th ed O & A that I have on my laptop - I was not on line at the site. I told him it looked clear to me at that time, but promised a more thorough conflict check when I was back at the motel.

Today, he posted his design to the An Tir Heralds list (he lives in An Tir, but used to live in Artemisia) and the best conflict checker I know - who lives in An Tir - did an exhaustive check, writing up her research in detail, and came up with a pronouncement of clear!

:-D :-D :-D

I am feeling SOOO good about this! My heraldic senses must have been firing on all cylinders on Saturday!

(Pats self on back) I do know what I am talking about - and can prove it!

Kyped from amykb

2008-03-08T16:20:40Z

- May 1 -
You love literature and the arts and dreaming and traveling. You love attention and are constantly attracting people with your charm. People find you very stimulating intellectually.
Positive Traits: determination, self-confidence, willpower, dignity, originality
Negative Traits: stubborn, willful, over-sensitive, arrogant, lack of foresight
'What does your Birthdate mean?' at QuizGalaxy.com

EDIT: Since when is being stubborn a negative trait? :-)

Still around

2008-02-24T19:19:58Z

I am still around, but sleeping a lot - the second surgery is indeed taking longer for me to bounce back from. Staples came out last Monday - the Physical Therapist did it rather than wait several more days to be 'treated' by the nurses at the VA Clinic. That was no fun at all last time. This time was very easy - no blood, no screaming or crying, just a few winces and no need for any extra numbing agents or pain killers!

I am able to get around the house on my cane, now, but am still using the walker outside the house to be safer. No sign that the ramp my surgeon ordered will be approved - he agreed I need a permanent ramp on my house, but that has to be authorized by a committee and I have heard nothing on that yet. Will be calling the contractor who was here before sometime this next week to see if he has gotten any word. Fingers crossed.

Still taking pain pills during the day as well as at night - tried to cut back to just at night middle of last week, but that was a bad idea. Will try again this next week. sine_fergusson will be staying with me through Friday, and then on Sat the 1st of March her fiancee will drive here from Bozeman to get her. They are actively car shopping, and will take their time going home to stop at a couple of dealerships in towns between here and there. A week later, I'll be in Bozeman to pick her up for the drive back to the VA Hospital for my 30 day checkup, but we should be back in Bozeman that same day.

Other than that, just trying to get around and start getting back to the Laurel clerk paperwork that I need to get finished so I don't get behind.