You're talking to Serenity. And, Early... Serenity is very unhappy.

River ,'Objects In Space'


Natter 77: I miss my friends. I miss my enemies. I miss the people I talked to every day.  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Laura - May 22, 2023 7:34:23 am PDT #22304 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.

"...and a palliative care specialist."

I would have had the same response! I appreciate knowing this now.

Flopping into the thread after the long drive back to Florida. Got in at 3 AM, but had to get up again by 7:30 to start work stuff. I'll nap later.

They totaled my son's car so dealing with that today. He has to find his title and mail it to the insurance company. Seriously, son is so brilliant, but so clueless when it comes to everyday practicalities. His response when discussing the title business -

"I do not know how to send mail through a mailbox. I will have to go to the post office and make them help me, and it's embarrassing."
I told him I would talk him through the process. At least I know he will remember it after he does it once.


Laura - May 22, 2023 7:36:14 am PDT #22305 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.

I'm envious of anyone who can just fall asleep.

So much. I watch DH just put his head on the pillow and insta-sleep. This never happens with me. I'm a lot better at it than I used to be, but it is a process.


meara - May 22, 2023 9:33:55 am PDT #22306 of 30000

Laura my initial reaction to that was like “wtf how does he not know how to use the mail?” But then I was like “I could see saying “I don’t have an envelope or stamp, I don’t know if I need to write a letter to go with this, or if I need to send like tracked or insured because what if it ends up lost and it’s the only copy…”. So, fair.


brenda m - May 22, 2023 9:39:26 am PDT #22307 of 30000
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

I could never watch a horror movie living alone! Even with the dog now.

They’re my go to movies for plane trips. Nothing less atmospheric than that.

We gad to get a new title for my sister’s car so she could sell it and it was so easy! I was genuinely shocked. The hours spent searching for it, or even just the stress of making sure you know where it is for all those years. Wasted!


Jessica - May 22, 2023 9:50:00 am PDT #22308 of 30000
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

I'm envious of anyone who can just fall asleep.

SAME. DH can do it and I just lie in bed communing with the insomnia fairies.


Steph L. - May 22, 2023 10:11:06 am PDT #22309 of 30000
the hardest to learn / was the least complicated

I'm envious of anyone who can just fall asleep.

SAME. DH can do it and I just lie in bed communing with the insomnia fairies.

Us, too. Tim falls asleep like he's been drugged, while I, the one who actually takes bedtime meds, stares resentfully at the wall waiting for unconsciousness to take me. Although right now I can't be too resentful of Tim, because he wakes up 3-6 times a night because of his back pain.* Which reminds me —

Did I mention Tim has a tentative date for his surgery? It turns out that his surgery requires 3 surgeons, not 2, and coordinating the schedules of 3 surgeons is complicated as shit. So it's scheduled for the first week of August, BUT the surgeon (surgeon #1 [Surgeon Prime?]) knows that Tim's pain is getting worse and his sleep is really affected, so he's going to try his best to move the surgery forward. Hopefully it can happen in July, or even June.

*(Tim tends to avoid opioids because opioid epidemic, addiction, blah blah blah. He knows I'm a hardass about adequate pain management being the bare minimum a health care professional should provide a patient with severe and/or chronic pain, and sometimes that pain management includes opioids. There's nothing noble about suffering through pain when there are options to treat it. [Obviously I recognize there are a lot of health care professionals who act like anyone who asks for pain meds, even if they have documented chronic intractable pain, are just junkies who are lying. Those health care professionals should quit their fucking jobs.] Anyway. He's at the point where he's going to ask Surgeon Prime about pain meds just for bedtime, so he can get a decent night's sleep. And the fact that he's willing to ask for pain meds means he's in a lot of pain. My poor honey. I know what that pain is like, and I hate that there's nothing I can do to alleviate it.)


brenda m - May 22, 2023 10:24:45 am PDT #22310 of 30000
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

I’m really hope this is the road to recovery and relief!


askye - May 22, 2023 10:55:30 am PDT #22311 of 30000
Thrive to spite them

I hope Tim gets pain meds and a closer surgery date.

I got home and M's mom said she had to talk to us. Turns out a lady at her church has a Persian kitten she is giving a way and offered it to her. We both said that if she wants to rehome Cheeto or Scrappy she can bring home the kitten but our house is too small for 6 cats even when they are indoor/outdoor and no one wants to add in the expense of more cat food, litter, etc.

"But a Persian Kitten! When can I ever get one again? This is once in a lifetime." Which may be true but our house is full up.

I will say the fact she talked to us about it instead of just bringing it home.


Jessica - May 22, 2023 11:32:36 am PDT #22312 of 30000
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

It turns out that his surgery requires 3 surgeons, not 2, and coordinating the schedules of 3 surgeons is complicated as shit.

That sounds like a logistical nightmare, but I'm glad you guys have a schedule!


dcp - May 22, 2023 11:51:52 am PDT #22313 of 30000
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

Persian kitten

That she talked to you about it first is a good sign.

I can understand that the appeal of New! Cute! Kitten! is strong, but "When can I ever get one again?" is just self-delusion. Pfui.

...our house is too small for 6 cats

Yeah, hold firm on that. I only hope it works.

I have a story about why I react strongly to mention of Persian cats.

When I started 2nd grade, we had just moved to a small town north of Charlotte NC. My mother hated it there, and part of her way of coping was to acquire a fancy pure-bred certificated long-hair Persian kitten, named him "Sikander-i-Azam" (which is Farsi -- Persian, get it? -- for "Alexander the Great") with the express intention of raising him and putting him to stud. (Is that the term for cats? I dunno.)

So he wasn't neutered. And my mother didn't put in the time or effort to socialize him, including not getting him accustomed to being groomed, or even handled. So he grew up hating to be brushed. He would get matted, and he hated both being matted and getting de-matted.

He would yowl, long and loud.

He would yowl to be let out, then disappear for three days into the undergrowth behind our back yard. He would come back with maximum matts and yowl to be let in, and then yowl to be fed. When food was presented, he would sit in front of the bowl, look at it, look at me, refuse to eat, and yowl some more.

When my mother split, she left the cat behind. I don't remember whether Dad ever had Sikander neutered. Probably not, money was tight. He did eventually re-home the cat, but I don't remember how, or with whom. We were both glad to be rid of Sikander, though.

Wow, those are some vivid memories. I can recognize the prejudice that resulted, but I still haven't overcome it.