• 11:07 RT @bookviewcafe - Today's Special from Judith Tarr: - "I Sing of a Maiden" - read it free at www.bookviewcafe.com - and HORSEBLOG #
• 11:09 RT @FakeAPStylebook IT'S - contraction of "it is." ITS - possessive form of "it." ITS' - the most horrible thing you could ever possibly do. #
• 15:24 @StevenPiziks I have a Corgi on my knee (and a pile o' kittehs in the wrapping paper) #
• 15:25 Wrapapalooza has commenced. Will not decommence today, for there are Solstice baked meats to travel to and consume. #

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• 09:57 @wojsvenwoj Ah, the kitten reaction to the first snowfall: "DUDE! Where's my planet?" #
• 10:37 @JilleSharpe I second what @smoemeth said. Cook the food of your people. Enjoy your holiday. That's what it's for. #
• 16:41 Coooooookies! #

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Yet strangely familiar. (Via claudiagray.)

( Dangerous Wands )

Dead-on movie trailer parody on YouTube.

I've never before had occasion to mention Brittany Murphy (however briefly) in a blog post.

The day I do, she's reported dead at 32?

The world is a weird, weird place.

And all well-wishes to her loved ones who are now having a singularly terrible holiday. :-/

This is what it was for.

It, um, got a little long. I originally was going to post it before P&P opened, and then actually started writing it on October 29. And finished it this morning.

Just in case you're curious.

Did I mention, long?

Today I went forth to salvage the hot tub. (As previously mentioned, rain had got down the chimney and entirely flooded the firebox, then frozen.) I hoped that the ice would just be a layer on top, but as it turned out there was about an inch and a half on every side of the firebox, with just a little core of water in the middle. I claw-hammered through the top of the ice, lugged the shop-vac outside and hoovered up all the water. The shop-vac is scarily efficient at this, filling its huge bucket up in a few seconds. I tried clawing off some more ice. It did not look promising. I boiled a few kettles of water and poured them over the ice. Promising, but too slow.

So I decided volume was more important than temperature, and stuck a hose in the firebox. It melted the ice a little bit and then filled up. Of course, left to its own devices that water would chill right down and refreeze. What was required was a flow of water. I thought about leaving the hose in there and letting it overflow, but it overflowed into the hot-tub, which overflowed all over itself in an uncontrolled manner. Which looked as if it was forming ice on the outside of the tub.

So I slurped the ice-water out with the vacuum, beat on the weakened ice some more, refilled it, repeated. After a little while I got this all down into an efficient little simultaeneous sequence, so that while the vacuum sucked up water from the bottom, the hose poured water down from the top and I fished around for ice chunks and chipped away with the hammer. It was not unlike a very crude form of open surgery; the firebox is really quite deep, so I had to reach in up to my armpit. I was very glad of the sub-zero ski mittens +10 of water resistance.

The last big chunks came out around dusk, accompanied by man-vs.-nature roars of triumph. At this point so much water had been slopped about that I was on something of an ice-rink, and I was getting kind of tired and clumsy. I put a carrier bag on top of the chimney to prevent further flooding incidents and called it good. Tomorrow we'll see if a fire can be managed. Solstice hot tub, with any luck.

• 18:35 @wojsvenwoj When Geoff Fox ups the snow forecast, you KNOW it's serious. #

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Encountering massive slowness with all things Google this morning, that is.

Which wouldn't bother me except for the part where it's timing out and I cannot read my mail. *scowl*

And really, truly, honestly will read her book one of these days. Really.

In the meantime, it makes my life a happier place to read posts like this:

But what about fictional couples who get together and who we don't believe in? Who you look at together and go 'Nah... it'll never last.' I've got to say, for me Jane Eyre and Rochester, they are going to break up. (Well, probably not given the time they were in, but I don't think they're going to be happy. Because they have a lot of chemistry, but Rochester is a crazy liar, y'all.)

ROCHESTER: Gosh, I have a crazy wife hidden in the attic who occasionally breaks out and sets fires. And I'd like to bigamously marry my governess. You know what this situation needs?
AUDIENCE: ... what?
ROCHESTER: MORE COMPLICATIONS! I think I'll have a house party and have a fake engagement to a third lady. AS WELL as the secret crazy wife. And the bigamous marriage.
AUDIENCE: ... what?
ROCHESTER: You're RIGHT! I'm not giving this a hundred per cent! What if I dress up as a gypsy woman and tell fake fortunes?

I'm just saying, Jane will come home one day and Rochester will have sold the children to pirates.

Finally got the shoulders checked out. As I originally had thought, it was bursitis. He figures it didn't improve on it's own as it has and that I got pain elsewhere, along with weakness at times and such, because I was "winging it" trying to compensate for the pain. Which instead of actually protecting the shoulder, caused irritation in several other locations. No structural damaged, physical therapy should get it back in order and hopefully keep it that way so he's ordered it for both shoulders. I could do a cortisone shot instead or along with, but 1) just as soon avoid more cortisone in my system (already on a form of it for allergies) 2) just as soon avoid needles if they're not leaving behind pretty ink or making room for pretty metal (people look at me weird when I say I hate needles) 3) the worst of the pain now is the secondary problem I created under the scapula, I don't think there is any way to reach that so why bother with the other?

I'm weird, anyway, I like physical therapy and actually will do it religiously. When I had knee surgery I went in for a session, I think it was my third? but can't remember, and I said I was doing it, the PT nodded absently, then started to work with me, noticed that my muscle tone was coming back and all, and looked at me and said "so, you are doing the exercises at home?" I said I was, and he said "well, there's nothing we can do here then, go home and keep doing them." And, you know, sort of acted a bit miffed. Like I was messing with his job by doing them. LOL

HOWEVER, there was one sour note. I had said to the ortho that I guess this meant he wasn't going to tell me I couldn't lift again, and that that was one of the reasons I hesitated to go in. Because I do not want to hear that (especially up here where finding a sports med specialist is going to be impossible...the first ortho I saw for my knee said I would never run again...I found someone who would make sure I would...and a decade later, I can still run). Anyway....

He said, "oh, yeah, you can lift weights, I do. But at 47 you really should be thinking lighter weights more reps."

*blink*

Fuck that!

I don't take that shit from no one, not even someone who is supposedly an expert on these things and has already condemned himself to lower weights and higher reps. I don't take ageism any more than I take sexism when it comes to lifting.

After all, we established the most likely reason I'm having problems with my shoulders is....using the computer mouse.

So, tell me...is the mouse causing the problem because of high weight? Or is it LOTS of repetition.

He quickly figured out that he was not going to win an argument about this with me.

Yes, when I start back, I will start with low weight. And, sadly, it won't be high rep either because I'm now officially a scrawny wimp, even with my last attempts to get back in carefully. I celebrated that my shoulder just hurt and wasn't actually damaged by doing a chin up. Because ONE fucking chin up was all I could do.

Chances are I will alter my lifting a bit. I think I do over do my shoulder work a tad. I just do too many sets. I am going to have to give up on that..I'm never going to get capped shoulders, I know this...I need to just keep them strong and stop worrying about trying to get something that I'm not actually genetically built for. I'll probably make sure to do more back work than chest work as well. Maybe I will give up on one armed push-ups again too.

*thinksofjackpalanceandwhathe'dofthoughtofsuchageism*

Or not.

We'll see.

I will be chinning again though. Soon.

We're doing okay. Sad at times, but we couldn't wish for her to be suffering, so.... Gleann is having a rough time though.

Òrlaith is starting to settle in, do wish they could have had more time but then I guess we'd have two sadder pups...she's not so affected, although it does seem to have gotten to her a bit. It's also not so windy, so she's not hiding her head all the time, although I really need to get a photo of that next time.

No one is going after the mice. Guess we'll have to get a Husky or a Dobie, those were our two mouser dogs.

I've been working all week, but not getting much sleep due to various stuff. I only had this past night off and won't get another until next week. So very tired, despite sleeping late yesterday. So..back to work tonight.

Because I took one more peek at Twitter, and Felicia Day posted a link to this:

( For anyone who's ever screamed 'YOU CAN'T DO THAT' at someone fiddling with digital images on TV... )

On YouTube.

The random 80s pseudo-technobabble they've got poor MacGyver spouting is worth the price of admission all by itself.

• 18:18 @smoemeth @wojsvenwoj One of them was probably pregnant when you got it. #
• 22:48 Wow. Brooke Shields is getting old. Her eyelashes are gone and now it's tooth enamel. TMI, Brooke. TMI. #
• 10:18 RT @FakeAPStylebook irregardless - The process of watering crops with lack of regard. #
• 10:21 @smoemeth Oh yeah. It's another "snowpocalypse." Lots of hysteria and emergency-rations runs. #
• 10:22 @patinagle Cinnamon chile pecans? Scones? When can I come over? #
• 11:14 @smoemeth Did you look at the weather map? Great big green-and-yellow blob is eating the South. You're flying around it. #
• 12:09 RT @FakeAPStylebook Use "damn it" instead of "dammit," but avoid cursing unless OH SHIT DAMN IT WHO FORGOT TO GET FUCKING COFFEE. #
• 15:58 RT @wilw The best thing about Avatar: it imagines a world where a program to breed Thundercats w/ Smurfs has been successful. SCIENCE! #
• 15:59 I seem to have no original thoughts today. The Holiday Black Hole has eaten mjy brain. #

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Before I head off to Office of Doom holiday party. No blizzard conditions this year, for a change.

( Dolphins! )

On YouTube.

I...really wouldn't mind being on that deck right now. But without the vomiting.

After a rather long afternoon (subjectively speaking) yesterday, I got sprung for my 2+ week vacation. That's right, no alarms until January 4! I got home last night, and straightened up. Couldn't dust, because I didn't have any paper towels for dusting, but I picked things up, put things away, vacuumed, so the place was Renee clean, which is the only thing that matters to me. Then dressed and was picked up by schnookiemuffin and her boy for a night on the town. We had dinner at the Highball. They have a limited menu and it's a little pricy, but not too bad, and the food was good, the menu interesting. We were there for the holiday burlesque show, and met up with some folks, including Steve, Travis and Bobby for a night of song, dance and boobies. As I told Joy after the show, if I could look half so good as those girls, I'd take up burlesque dance, they were all quite lovely.

Got home around 1, but I was wide awake until about 3. I can tell you there is some okay programming on HGTV at 1am. Slept great, woke up at 10.

It's been a busy day since. I had to get my car all legal with the inspection (and the tires *just* passed, thankfully, although I am planning to replace them very soon), got a needed oil change, renewed the registration. Then did all my Christmas shopping, including buying myself a little something (I love clearance sales).

But now I can take a breather and get a little bite before heading out again tonight.

And this is only the first day of vacation! But don't worry, I'll pace myself. After all, I still have to do Christmas cards and hit the post office tomorrow. :-)

In the name of trying to get the slideshow/video DVDs done for all the fam...

( Hawaiian Sunsets )

On YouTube.

• 18:44 @smoemeth I like Gizmo. #
• 09:48 RT @bookviewcafe: Last day of BVC #TwitterFic #contest!! See rules at bit.ly/92q4OF "Machines and Monsters" - come play! #
• 12:25 Now the house is as clean as it's going to get, and life is about to get interesting. #
• 13:10 @bethmeacham Among other things. Tomorrow. And various. #
• 13:55 RT @LAGilman I'm talking abt @BookViewCafe & The Shadow Conspiracy at The Big Idea: bit.ly/7aLizN #

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