Velcrometer
Throwing stuff at the internet to see what sticks
|
|
|
M. Giant's Velcrometer Throwing stuff at the internet to see what sticks |
|
|
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Humpblog (5/19/04) For those of you who haven't already seen this, Jon Stewart gave this year's commencement address at the College of William and Mary. Here's the link. For those of you who have already seen it, do you have to be so mean? It's not bad enough that my commencement speaker was Madeleine Albright, you have to rub in my constant behind-the-curve-ness? * * * And now, a couple of quick updates on some ongoing stories in my petty little world. * * * It's been six and a half weeks since I seeded the back yard for the umpteenth time. Looking out the window of my study, it appears to be an unbroken expanse of lush, green grass. That's because I haven't mown it yet. It merely means that from this angle, the grass that has come up is tall enough to conceal the gaping bare patches that mock me whenever I step out there. Also, at this distance it's impossible to differentiate the grass from the weeds, of which there are many. I'm still watering, of course. Normally the grass gets to this point and I take that as a "we'll take it from here," and I stop watering so diligently, just in time for the tree to draw its black shroud of shade over the yard without protecting it from the killing heat of summer. My grass is very Minnesotan that way. You know us; we'll insist we're fine from our beds in the Intensive Care Unit. But I'm not falling for it this time. It's trying to distract me, too. At the eastern end of the yard, in the shade of our garage and a mass of bushes, rhubarb has sprung up. This has never happened before, and it appears to be completely spontaneous. I don't care for rhubarb, so all it means to me is that I'll have less area to mow when I actually summon up enough courage to do so. I certainly won't be making pies out of it. In any case, I've now learned that the best way to enjoy the beauty of my back yard is through the window of my study. From here, it's perfect. * * * Strat has passed the five-month mark since going on insulin for his diabetes. We went through an unhappy period when he would try to run from us whenever we were holding a needle, and then shriek in pain when we actually stuck him with it. Just pulling up the fold of skin for the shot would send him into a panic and his claws would scrabble at the floor, if he was on the floor, or at us, if he wasn't. We began to wonder if maybe we were doing something wrong, or that he had some rare condition that was making the injections much more painful than our veterinarian had assured us they would be. We wondered if we weren't traumatizing him so severely that his life had become one long, living nightmare of terror and agony from which he could only escape by expiring of fright. No, it turns out he's just a big drama queen. Now his only reaction to the twice-daily shots is mild annoyance at being expected to hold still for the half-second that the procedure takes. He's become fatalistic about it. Whereas before, his attitude was "NOOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!" now it's more, "Now? Oh, all right." And then he drinks some water. I don't know if he figured out that the routine wasn't going to get dropped, or if all of the emoting just wore him out. In any case, his new outlook is a big time-saver for all involved. I just hope it doesn't start all over when we go on vacation next week. Today's best search phrase: "Kama Sutra for one." Who are you trying to impress there, sparky? posted by M. Giant 5:13 PM 0 comments 0 Comments:
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
