i made tuna salad sandwiches
i make them based on a curried tuna salad i had
in a deli like 30ish years ago
but
i used turmeric instead of curry powder once
and now i make it with
turmeric and cumin and coriander
with hellman's olive oil mayonnaise
and
raisins

and guess what almost doesn't hurt
or at any rate is better
more so than with ibuprofen

note to self
consume more turmeric

dr chucle is awesome

back years ago when i was first dealing with the facts of buzz's spina bifida and mega colon
i was initially not happy with her
she seemed wishy washy
like maybe she didn't know what she was doing
i took him to a cat vet specifically
like a cat specialist
and
everything she said was absolutely spot on
but
unlike some vets
dr chucle understands
you don't have unlimited funds
you have priorities of maximizing the good
and minimizing surgeries and testing
that don't necessarily maximize
that's not wishy washy
it's saying:
you could do that
but it probably isn't the best thing to do
but she doesn't say that last part
she says something more like
some people have had good results with that

once i understood her language
i really really like her
because i trust her opinion as wise and experienced

i have been dealing with young vets
and they have been freaking me out
i've been operating under the impression that
kitty is a ticking time bomb of death
that the elevated levels in his blood
mean that his pancreas is oozing acid all inside him
and that his insides are being destroyed
even as we speak
sure
he seems fine
but
there is almost no time left before massive damage


she's like no
the fact that his cholesterol and triglycerides are ten times "normal"
doesn't necessarily mean anything at all
we don't really know what "normal" is for a cat
maybe it's a problem
but
maybe it isn't

the pancreatitis doesn't work like that
it's only doing stuff when he's having an acute phase
and if he seems fine
he's probably fine

the thing that will most likely manage the problem is diet
and she thinks i'm doing that right
based on these numbers being high
i just switched him from chicken to fish
because my first trial was to get rid of the grains and fat
and then i didn't want to introduce more fats
if he wasn't digesting them properly
so now i've switched him to limited ingredient grain free fish
which is almost the same as what he was getting except fish
blue buffalo

the other vets
were talking specialists and testing
and she doesn't necessarily think that's necessary
also
it's not useful unless he's having an acute episode
but
if i get a referral then they may not see him right away
so
next episode
just take him to gulf coast animal hospital emergency
problem solved
[although the expensive test may be more expensive]
get them to ultrasound his entire belly
and if anything look weird
get needle aspirated biopsies

there is no medication for this
except steroids
which she doesn't recommend until it's super bad and necessary
not as a preventative of any kind
she doesn't recommend
fixating on the blood work

now
in both cases
he was absolutely fine fifteen minutes before
he started vomiting and being obviously sick

so the
just see how he's doing method
seems a little ify
but, whatever

he had an episode in june
and then in august

in august he switched food
the first test was better numbers
this last one was worse
but
they didn't get enough blood to do both tests
and she says they might not have really gotten enough for the one test
because she says it looks like the blood was hydrolyzed
so
maybe the numbers are falsely high
maybe he didn't need to switch foods

but
whatever
that takes care of the other factor:  protein

so
i need to stick with this food
which she approves of
for at least three months
and if he hasn't had an episode by then
he may not have another one for a long time
but once a year or so
is a managed condition

i did a bunch of research
but
this really helped me put things in perspective

so
fingers crossed

i'm going to eat something now

hope your day is going well
i love you very much sweetheart

very strange dreams
you were cloned four times
and sometimes they moved around
but sometimes
they were packaged like peeps
i slept a long time
and the dream kept cycling around
you came to see me
and for our date
you took me with you
to have a medical check for your trip to space
and I was a little disappointed
so clinical
and you were like
this is boring you?
I thought you'd find it fascinating
and something to the effect
why had you bothered


then
we were at college
I was in college
you were a guest lecturer
or whatever
and young women kept coming up
having you sign things
things they were pulling out of their purses
where are you buying that
I asked
because I hadn't been finding
books and cards and pictures at local stores
and they're all like
this place and that place


then I was going to take you to lunch
and i was hoping for some place
that we could really visit
but you wanted to go to Chick-fil-A


I was feeling
like
maybe I was wrong
and you didn't really love me
but
you looked deep into my eyes
and said
I love you very much
but
this is what I have to give you
and you hugged me
and kissed me on the lips
but in a pure and childlike way
and all your bodily substance seemed
to have left you
and you seemed like Russell Brand physically
although, somehow, it was still you


and then
somewhere in there
I drove you around town
and we took a train
and the peeps
were tomatoes
or
somehow related to tomatoes


I don't know what this all means
maybe it's just depression
and too much sleep
but
I'm kinda upset by this dream

hip is still sore
but I'm fine
I discovered I have a reset
and I was thinking I shouldn't
but
I don't know what I was thinking
I went to the first conference
after working overnights
and
the other too
I should know this shit
but
whatever
maybe I'm senile
maybe I'm just distracted
shit to do
tired
maybe a little depressed
I love you
hope you're doing well
cat to the vet
my old vet
semi retired
dr chucle
wish me luck

well
after working all shift
hurting
and feeling kinda flop-sweat-y
and five ibuprofen
i came home
and sat down
and
pop
so
maybe
everything is all better now


i, however, am going to bed
i'm exhausted
and
have no energy for anything


i love you
it was a rough day
but all the santa's butt beer is on the shelf
so, ya know, the important work was done

the quality street candy tins were on sale today 30% off
and i missed getting one last year
so
that's another thing crossed off the list

the cat's blood work is worse
more drastic measures will have to be taken

hope you have a good night sweetheart

I dreamed something about a short haired blonde movie star
in a light blue form fitting dress
that they
made it look like she died
by killing a female soldier
this was in the 30s or 40s
very strange

slightly better
but
on work days I will take ibuprofen
so
hopefully
I'll make it through
dubious, though


hope you're doing well
I love you very much

my hip feels slightly out
I slept late
and I stretched it out
but
it will not co operate
I'm going back to bed


sorry today was such a bust


I love you
and I had really strange dreams
but
I found when I tried to describe them
they didn't make sense
car seats
and movie making
and high school
I just need my fucking hip to pop

good night sweetheart
I'm taking the cat for more blood work
follow up
in the morning
and then I'm early voting


meet me in dreamland
💜

although
if I have some meso American
Indian
it would make
the Quetzalcoatl thing
make more sense
because
it never has made sense

no wait, apparently i have to talk about this first

so
i went to dinner with my mom
and it was ok
i talked about how upset i was with the direction
the country is going
and she was pretty much on board for that
and
she's going to vote
and not republican
so all that is good

she wanted me to say she looks 55

and i'm like
but i'm 51
i think you look older than me
and she's like
well you don't look 51
and i'm like how about i say you look really good
will that work
i'm not good at guessing ages anyway


but
she looks old to me
and frail
and not that good, ya know


but
when i was getting out of the car
i just asked in passing if she had thought about getting one of those dna tests
and she said she sorta wanted to get one
and then
she proceeded to tell me
after i told her my bit

well you've got native american on both sides
and i'm like
well, what do you mean
i figure there might be some mexican somewhere on her side
possibly
because they'd been in texas since the 1850s
it could happen, ya know
maybe not all german

and then she proceeds to tell me
that when shirley and betty went through daddy's things
they found a family picture
that they think was his parents
[although i'm not sure how they decided that]
and the woman had "dark skin"
so
what are you saying
his mother was mexican
maybe, she says
or maybe she was black

you think your super white
very german looking father was half black
i ask
somewhat incredulously

maybe
she says
or indian
i have this indian nose
she says
turning sideways
showing me what most people who have ever guessed
the pedigree of her nose
have guessed was a jewish nose
but
i just think looks somewhat generically german

it is, of course, possible
that he was half black
and just looked white
but
i mean come on
they are all pasty white

i think it's more likely
it was a second wife
but
who can say

but

maybe i'm an 1/8 indian
and an 1/8 black
are you buying that shit

i don't think i am

but
i kinda want to do the test now

I love you

also
I dreamed last night
that I sold all the wine
like there was literally nothing left


which is weird
because they've tied my hands so much
that I literally do not care
or consider myself responsible
for sales of wine

RASPBERRIES?!

that other story decided it was finished
but this one
decided it was next
so
maybe it's a story cycle
or whatever


good morning sweetheart

couldn't decide which way i wanted to go next
with that story
so i didn't get all turned around with it
it's at a comfortable resting place right now
hope everything is good with you

i love you sweetheart
and i'm going to bed soon
i have a headache because the weather is about to change
it got hot again
but
it's supposed to be 64 tomorrow
and
also
i have to go to dinner with my mom tomorrow
i need extra rest

goodnight sweetheart
i love you
i'm going to bed now

now this is just freaky

last night
i dreamed that
dennis gave me a new responsibility at work
i had to go through all these songs
that customers submitted
and choose the ones to put on the in-store
music program
and
when i listened to them
a bunch of them
seemed to be about me
and i was deeply touched
dream songs
weird, huh

bed&vreakfast, damn it!

i was reading july, july  and i didn't get it.  now that's not terribly unusual for me, the not getting it, with things that other people like and "get" and understand.  i didn't go to my high school reunion--  not 10, not 20, not 30 (if they had a 30).  for my 10 year, i said i wasn't going and a friend of mine asked me why.  why should i want to?  i asked.  it's not like i have stuff i want to show off.  i could go with you and tell them i'm your husband, he offered.  wow, i thought, that's what you think i'd want to show off?!  i had meant like, ya know, i wasn't famous yet.

these july, july people, they seemed to just be the embodiment of regret and backward looking-ness, and i couldn't like them.  even now, when i think i'm about the age they were, i still think, somehow, that my best days are ahead of me.  or, realistically, that there might not be any good days--  maybe good days are a trap, somehow.  i wouldn't go back to high school.  not if you paid me.  i liked college, a lot, but i don't think i'd want to go back.  if there's any time i might be tempted to go back to it's the time i spent travelling around.  and really, i don't want to go back, i want to go forward.


patagonia.
patagonia, arizona.
is a small town in southern arizona, not too far from the mexican border.  it's a bird watcher's paradise, so i'm told, and it's close to other cool places to check out like tombstone and bisbee.  driving out there was my first look at texas canyon, and the drive on highway 83 from the 10 to patagonia was really beautiful to me.  in fact, there's this juncture where one way takes you to patagonia (which is like northern exposure, but like, ya know, southern exposure), another way takes you to tombstone (which is like a wild west movie set, kinda), and the other takes you to bisbee (an amazing little artist colony which is some kind of technicolor vision that seems like oz, something--  i was going to say brigadoon but that seemed like mixing metaphors somehow--  it just doesn't seem like it could really exist)

anyway, i had to find the black dove.  and this was still when everything had deep symbolic meaning.  but it was a little house with an added guest house kind of thing.  and i was in the guest house kind of thing.  i met the woman who ran the bed and breakfast and her husband.  i had booked it for two people because i naively thought he might be joining me and i didn't want to defraud the b&b.  is your friend coming tonight?  they asked.  well, actually i don't know that he's coming at all, i said, maybe.  they looked at me.  you'll find the one, the woman said, you'll find a good man who will do work around the house and be a real help to you, she said, looking approvingly at her mate.  wow, i thought, that's really what you think i want?  i wanted somebody to play with, somebody fun and inspiring.

whatever.  i put a box of black licorice in the window so that if he showed up he'd know he was in the right place, and then i went "to town".  i put town in air quotes because it's hard for me to think of a place that small as going to town--  it is really just a few businesses--  but i'm probably skewed by coming from a big city.  there was a cute little grocery, not a health food store--  if there had been a health food store i probably would have gone there.  i bought groceries.  as though it were serious business.  i got eggs and big cans of those awesome green chiles that come in the bright yellow packaging.  i got coffee.  i don't know what all i bought.  staples, i bought staples, like i was stocking the pantry for our home.  for some reason i bought a giant (truly giant) bag of mixed raspberries and blackberries.  i think i spent $125, seriously.  i was not staying long enough to eat $125 worth of food, and apparently i was not planning to eat out at all.  i think i just got carried away at the idea of cooking for him, if he showed up, which i really didn't expect that he would.  i can't really explain what i was thinking.

i put the groceries away.  the husband came and asked me if i was having breakfast the next morning and i said i thought i was and he told me what time it was.  i walked around the property a bit and then i went to the cafe.  they had internet and, of course, it wasn't smart phones then so i had to have my laptop and find the internet access.  i couldn't make something work and, i remember, i actually called my mother and made her log on and read me something--  that's how seriously i took all this social media back then.

i stayed up late because i always stay up late.  and i could not make myself wake up in the morning.  then there was banging on the door.  wtf.  i got up and staggered to the door, opened it a bit sticking my face out.  it was the husband.  you're late for breakfast!

this took me a little aback.  i'm on vacation.  he was banging on the door, waking me up to tell me about breakfast?!  my experience with bed & breakfasts had been:  they cook breakfast and if you want it you come and get some, like a buffet kind of thing, ya know.  yeah, i overslept, i said, i think i'm just gonna skip it.

no, he says forcefully.  she made an effort to make you breakfast and you are going to come eat it.

again wtf?!  but he was deadly serious.  he looked like he might beat the crap out of me if i didn't get my ass in there right that moment.  man, i haven't had a shower.  he looked unmoved.  ok, give me a minute to get dressed.  it would have been nice if you had explained the situation more completely yesterday.  i will not be wanting breakfast the rest of my stay here, understand.  i threw on my clothes from yesterday and went into the main house to sit at a round table just outside the kitchen.  there were eggs scrambled with cheese and a muffin split open and buttered.  it was greasier than i would have preferred.  i felt unclean and uncomfortable.  she sat down and made small talk.  as a ring of hell it was pretty mild.  then she went on to explain how her mate, the one i should aspire to get one like, apparently, was just very protective of her and hadn't meant to snap at me like that--  clearly i just hadn't understood the situation.  uh huh.

then i went back to my room to brush my teeth and take a shower.  she had left tiny sample size regenerist serum with a note about how great it was on the bathroom sink.  really?  that's what you think i want to start with a new drugstore serum on my vacation?  i mean, maybe it's great but i don't want that crap, and it just felt like weird and intrusive, somehow.  then i go to take the shower and there is no hot water.

this i think is funny.  the universe is telling me to take a cold shower.  he is definitely not coming.

I love you

I love you