Oh Cass, I'm so sorry. Holding you in my thoughts today.

And Anne, glad to hear Jeeves is more comfortable, but much kitty~ma to him and to you.

If you have an inexpensive knife, stick the tip between the jar and the lid and pry to break the seal.

Or do it gently with a bottle opener.

I don't know how widely available they are, but I have a sort of torque wrench like a big rubber band with a handle that is aces for opening jars. I can't find the exact thing online, but [link] is close.

For no particular reason at all, I've recently decided that bees are probably blissed out when they're collecting nectar and rolling in pollen and tripping out on wildflower fields. Rather like a Doors after party but with flight.

I totally agree. I mean, they go home and communicate where they've been by dancing! And follow a meandering, loopy path from flower to flower.

Now staying home and air-conditioning the hive with your wings, that's probably a more workmanlike affair.

Oh, and for gadgets, I have this one: [link]

I've also had good luck using silicone pot holders and high-tech grippy oven mitts (can't think what they are made of, looks like rubber?) to add friction (esp when the torque wrench thingy is out in the shed because it also gets used on pipes and sometimes gets put away with the other plumbing tools instead of staying in the kitchen).

My faux-livestrong bands have never failed me before. But such is the downside (still haven't cashed in on the upside) of having ridiculously soft palms that you moisturise obsessively.

The lid-tapping wasn't enough considering I'm fresh out of the bath and slippery handed, but in conjunction with the wrist band, voila!

I can have pasta tonight (the refrigerated bottle of marinara sauce went off way fast--I've never had that problem with my normal sauce, vodka, so didn't even pause to think there'd be differences...) I had to have a super small portion the other night because I was too exhausted to do anything myself, and I had to toss one almost full jar, and was being taunted by the unopened one.

Okay, haircut time. Will try to not buy art supplies, but--it's rough out there.

I'd like a break. Maybe next month.

I will really miss Mike.

I've moisturized to the point when I can't open my mascara. I like soft skin, sure. But, yeah, no grip.

and now he's come back into the living room and is curled up on my lap, quite content.

That is lovely. I am so happy you found a way to help.

Maybe it's not that he likes those things; rather he just likes you.

Yeah, I think this must be it!

Aww, Cass, how hard.

Good for curled up kitty.

I have been mocked by mockingbirds. I have also been laughed at by a parrot. Our kennel owner had one, and I once made the mistake of laughing in its presence. It not only repeated the laugh at me (which made me laugh, thus triggering an endless cycle) that day, but remembered me, and would laugh at me (in my voice) every time I entered the room thereafter.

I;m glad you found something that works, Anne. Poor Jeeves, but he is lucky to have you.

Cheesecake popsicles, while not as exciting as coffee popsicles, are quite tasty and seem like an excellent way to solve my cream-cheese-doesn't-come-in-small-enough-sizes-for-my-taste problem.