Hmmm... is there any life?

Oh, yeah! I forgot to report this - annoying cousin is homeless again - not sure she even made it a full month in the new place. Her cat is with someone else - I said no. I also said no to letting her sleep on my porch one night - I mean, come on - if she's on the porch, she may as well come in and sleep on the couch again and then I'd have to kick her out again. I did drive her places a couple of times since she has no car and the person she's been mooching off of is getting tired of her and turns off her cell phone so cousin can't get through. So, once, before she was evicted, I went to the bar where she hangs out (she goes for karaoake and who knows what else, but she doesn't seem to drink) and drove her home. At that point, her power was turned off and she said she had the money to pay to get it back on, but didn't have a way to the store where she would pay. So I said I'd come over the next day and take her. Went over - no one home. A couple of weeks later, she called from the hospital needing a ride (probably there trying to get her medications), so I went and got her, took her to a gas station where she could get some cigarettes; then she was going to walk next door to the Waffle House and sit there. She had a huge tale of woe, but I found it hard to believe - and just don't care anymore. Also called a different cousin to warn her that annoying cousin might try to hit her up again. {Sigh} I wish she could get a place and settle, but she seems to deliberately sabotage herself. Not my problem. And she got both of her checks at the end of the month, so she's not destitute.

Apparently my disability is supposed to start coming out on the 16th of the month. Goofy me forgot to ask what the monthly amount will be or if the first check will be the backdated amount. May have to either call again or go up to the SocSec office. Otherwise things are as usual here :)


So I finished the 100 Books Challenge :) and am up to 118 for the year so far.

elismor's questions:
I am going to ask everyone this question, because I think it's awesome.

1. Pick five people from your flist [who we don't have mutually friended] and tell me a little bit about them.

I thought this would be really hard, since most of my flist are your friends too, but it wasn't! (Pause for brief cat adoration time) Okay, back!

sailorjim - I 'met' SJ on Usenet in alt.callahans, based on the Callahan's novels by Spider Robinson, a long long time ago :) He's... a weirdness magnet. Actually, if you read the top entry in his journal right now, it's an introduction he did for a writing contest. He's a storyteller - mostly humorous - I've spent many an hour trying not to pee my pants. One of his better known pieces is On Writing Penises.

naamah_darling - Naamah is extremely snarky, childfree, artistic, and can reduce me to sobbing or pee-in-the-pants laughing. Her profile is a good intro. She's also a cat lover (well, animals, period) and recently fostered some adorable little kittens and found them homes.  She's been metaquotes'd multiple times and this post  has 27 pages of comments :)

kobold - is Randy Millholland, who does the webcomic Something*Positive  plus about 3 others that update less regularly. S*P is wonderful - snarky, evil, hilarious, and touching. His journal is mostly comments about the comics and the store, but also, life, politics, and cons (the joys and stupidity of...).

ithildyn & ninjababe - yeah, I'm cheating :)  They're my friends, my family (along with aka_arduinna and yarrow_blue). We met online because of Forever Knight, then in real life on purpose. We're extreme opposites on some things and just alike on others. It's hard to remember a time I didn't know them - and I don't want to imagine a future without them :) Mushmushmush.

otterevilreads - and just why aren't you reading my book LJ, missy? Hmmmm.....? ::glares evilly, then laughs::



Here are the rest:

2. Would you ever move to The North?
I don't know. A lot would depend on where. I don't want 'real' snow like y'all get, but less heat in the summer would be nice. I can still see myself living near the shore, though. ithildyn  still tries to get me to move to Utah occasionally :)

3. Have you always been evil, or is it a lifestyle choice?
A bit of both, I think - being a fat kid, I learned to snark early and viciously. Then I realized I liked it when people cringed away and decided to develop it into full evilness. I kind of lost it after Mom died, but I've recently rediscovered my bitchy side and am very happy about it ;>

4. When was the last time you went swimming?
Sometime in May or early June. I've been neglecting it and need to get back. I've actually been neglecting it for a while, but I've taken the niece and either a friend or her sister a couple of times.

5. What is your favorite comfort food?
Soup, probably. Campbell's - either Chicken Noodle or Chicken and Rice. With lots of crackers and maybe a grilled cheese sammich.

Okay, first 5 people who request it will get questions.

A day in the life over the years:

2003 - didn't start my journal until September.

2004 - Oh, was the day after Mom had her kidney removed.

2005 - I was setting up unsuccessful interviews, doing my monthly book report, and uploading cat pictures :)

2006 - Hmmm... no idea - I apparently went for a couple of weeks without posting :)

2007- Another hmmm... I had gotten back from a library convention and seeing yarrow_blue at the end of June. Otherwise no idea.

2008 - Took my niece out to get her birthday present :) Her birthday is tomorrow. We went to Barnes & Noble and she got around $45 worth of goodies  (books and a purple lap desk) and I got myself a book too :)

For Christmas, I get her and her sister gift cards to Michael's and Office Depot; for her birthday, B&N.

Oh, yeah - and I got to pet kittens :>  lovely little tabby babies. They were laying outside on the porch at niece's house, sunning themselves.

Want to see my furry owners?

From my library for the adult summer reading club - I was a weekly winner, and still eligible for end of summer prizes :)

I won a book bag, a coffee mug, some coffee, a $5 gift card to an ice cream shop, a CD and my choice of 2 books.

The coffee is Colombian Supremo (from Book Junkies Java, which is something the library sells). Too bad I don't drink coffee :) or use mugs :)

The CD is "Kronos Quartet performs Philip Glass", which I'll listen to and then probably put up on SwapaCD.com - I'm not into classical, but I'll give it a try.

The two books I chose are Dead and Dateless by Kimberly Raye and Mumbo Gumbo by Jerrilyn Farmer, both of which appear to be hip, chicklit mysteries. (The other choices didn't appear very appealing ;> )  (And there's always Bookmooch.com :>  )

The book bag is nice - and free ice cream! Woo!  Niece tried to steal my gift card. Bad niece!

Each branch has an end of summer prize - a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble - I'd love to get that. The county-wide grand prize I don't really care about, though it sounds nice - dinner for two at four different area fine dining restaurants (a $300 value).

I got medical disability - the attorney's office called this morning and I got the letter this afternoon.

It says they "have not yet made a decision about whether you meet the nonmedical requirements, but we will make that decision soon" - not sure what that means exactly, but the attorney should be sending me a letter explaining things.

But basically I'll get Medicare, which means I'll have medical insurance ::sigh of relief::  So I'll be able to see my doctors and get my medicines.

And the attorney said they're usually pretty good about getting  the payments started quickly after being approved - though I know they screw up quite a lot too (looks at yarrow_blue and mutters something about getting ninjababe's Uncle Guido to do some 'persuading').


Sooo, I got bronchitis - but I got rid of my feline guest and got my disability. You know what? I think I can handle that.  :)

Cousin *finally* got her cat today!!! Actually about 45 minutes ago!!

::dances the dance of glee and destruction(TM Ninjababe)::
::stops and has coughing fit::
::decides to do the chairdance of glee and destruction(TM otterevil) instead::

She had to get her trailer bug bombed and get a window fixed, then had to get an air conditioner
and get the place cooled off. And the woman who's driving her around doesn't have A/C in her
car, so they decided to wait until the evening to come get him...

But he's gone!

A bit sad, cause he was a sweetie, but now us girls have the place back to ourselves :)

Went to the doctor to try to prevent bronchitis. Guess what?

Too late!

So, some prednisone, some amoxicillin, and an extra special inhaler - Symbicort (luckily samples were available).
Plus the cough suppressant so that I don't pull any muscles coughing too hard.

I'm just so happy.

(Oh, I'm sorry - did I overfill your flagon of sarcasm? Let me get some napkins.)

The summer plague... I has it :(

The cousin's cat... I STILL has it. Though hopefully he'll be gone this week.

A life... I still needs to get one.

Seen this?

Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody

Product Description
High Fidelity meets Wayne’s World in this utterly charming graphic memoir about a young man’s life-long obsession with the rock band Queen.


No idea if it's any good or not - but a book journal on my RSS feeds mentioned it and she loved it.

Life? Is still in a holding pattern. Nothing too bad, but nothing great either. No court cases called up, no disability case approved. Cousin has only pestered me through the phone line occasionally :) Her cat pesters me enough in person/feline(?). Status quo isn't too bad :)

Well, the week offline was a pain, but it just meant I got more books read :>




reviews can be found over in my book journal - otterevilreads 

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Back online!

Had to get a new network card and then had to get set up with a static IP address, so something is still a little kooky, but who cares?!? I have internet again!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

I also got an extra CD-R drive put in, but not the extra HD - there wasn't a space for it. So if I want an extra, I'll have to get an external.

Anyone looking for an extra HD?

Tam's computer is totally fried it turns out. So it needs to go to the computer doctor. She probably won't be back online till Friday at the earliest.

This has been an announcement by the ithildyn update service!

This is ithildyn posting for TamTam.

Tammy's DSL modem is fried, and she's waiting on delivery of a new one. Hopefully, she'll be back online mid-next week at some point.

Till then, keep the otters warm and your flippers crossed!

::sniff::

Went to the library today and decided to go by the Blood Center to donate - there's a Red Cross chapter here, but they don't do blood donations.

I was rejected :(  First there was the question of allergies, but since I wasn't having any drainage or symptoms, I passed on that. Then they asked about pet bites or scratches. Well, I have a nice fresh scratch on my hand, plus some mostly healed ones (and tons of kneading pinpricks). Well, that's a six week waiting period. Like I'm not going to get scratched in between. Then I raised the question of my radiation treatment - citing what the Red Cross webpage said about having to wait five years after radiation treatments to donate (chemo is a forever no donation). Well, the blood center doesn't take former cancer patients at all. And money donation isn't an option right now :(

And the two closest blood donation Red Crosses are each over an hour away. ::sigh::

Well, I tried :(

Did anyone else see the HL ref on CuteOverload.com?

Kurgan-kitty much more attractive than Kurgan!

Nothing much happening in otterevilland, so just books :)

Nonfiction:
James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot
The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict
Frontier by Louis L'Amour

SF/Fantasy:
Red As Blood by Tanith Lee
Chicks In Chainmail
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Ragamuffins by Tobias Buckell
The Service of the Sword by David Weber et al

Mystery/thriller:
Dead Hunt by Beverly Connor
Nameless Night by G.M. Ford
The Murderer's Club by P.D. Martin
Double Cross by James Patterson
A Homecoming For Murder by John Armistead
Mission Canyon by Meg Gardiner

Fiction:
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Teen:
The Night Room by E.M. Goldman

reviews up at otterevilreads

looks like I need to do a lot more cussing!


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