Monthly Archives: July 2012

A nervy time

It’s hard to go on with one’s carefree daily life when a pet is sick. Many of us know this firsthand.

Rousseau took a second trip to the vet at 7:30 last night. At first, she thought it was an infection, as the nictitating membrane — what is known as a dog’s third eyelid — was pulling up over his eye and making it retreat into its socket, indicating he was in pain. But the antibiotics and topical cream she gave him on Friday morning did no good (in fact, the cream eventually made it worse). So she put him on a different antibiotic, and said that if he’s not better in a couple of days, he will need to see an eye specialist in Akron.

Oy. Poor puppy.

Looking sad after his bath yesterday

He and the Thriller just got up, and he looks a *little* better. We’re still on for the specialist if things don’t improve by tomorrow night.

Getting to work isn’t near as fun when something like this is on my reptilian brain. But the work still has to get done. Hey, you need to get busy too — have a great Tunesday, fiends. If you like, I’ll keep you posted on our precious Mr. Old Bones.

Historic getaway

We took a quick weekender on Saturday and stayed at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. I’ve lived in Ohio for the better part of 39 years, and had never set foot in the place.

It takes up an entire city block on Public Square, home to Tower City Center and the Higbee’s building (now home to the Horseshoe Casino). Coming in off the parking garage and to the lobby is quite the culture shift. From crazy downtown traffic to an ornate, quiet, cavernous lobby, restored to its 1920s opulence — it was a welcome sight.

This property has had more rebuilds and name changes than just about anywhere I’ve been. Its underground train terminal made Cleveland the first city in North America to have direct rail service from an airport to downtown.

We were on the 5th floor, and enjoyed a small but comfortable room — with a view of the atrium on a little private balcony. Cool. The wooden entry doors had brass plates with engraved numbers, just like in the movies/olden days.

The Grand Staircase is a central focus of the lobby. And I wish I’d thought to snap photos of the old-style elevators. You half expected a uniformed elevator man to greet you when the door opened.

It was a nice, quiet stay in a beautiful place, where we got to play pretend tourist one final time before reality hits again. Speaking of which…it’s Monday morning and I have a meeting. Yay!

Sic infit.

:-)

What’s all this?

Sleeping until 7:15 a.m.? Did the Rapture happen, and I was left behind?

Man, that hasn’t happened for a while. A LONG while. Now I’m all sideways and off my feed. But all is well; the Thriller and I are going on a short overnighter to get away, so there will be time for recovery and relaxation.

We’re boarding Rousseau for the first time ever. Not feeling super good about it, but we thought we’d try it this once. We always depend so heavily on our children and BFF Kay & Bob to care for him while we’re gone overnight, but this time, we decided to not ask them, mostly because he has an eye infection that requires medication, and the doc is not totally sure what caused it or what it is. Therefore, he’s not sure if it’s contagious to other dogs or not. So we thought the vet’s office boarding facility might be a better place for him until tomorrow night.

Do I sound like I’m rationalizing a guilt-ridden decision? Oy.

Anyway, this is one of the last hurrahs of the summer. August is upon us, fiends. That means it’s time to get into schoolhouse mode. Where has the summer gone? I had to postpone my recording session at BoomR’s house until next June, but by crackie, it is going to take place then fo sho. My pipes might well be on their last gasp, but we’ll get it done.

I was going to write a review this morning on the HBO film I watched last night: Hemingway and Gellhorn. But…I’m still not sure how I feel about it. More research on their story is needed first.

So hey, it’s the weekend, and it is an absolutely gorgeous day here in Smalltown, Ohio. Right now it’s 65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. All our doors are open and it smells great. This is what summer should be, every day. Enjoy!

Five outta six ain’t bad

So the Emmy nominations came out yesterday, and I don’t want to brag, but I must say I was gratified to see that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences agreed with me, at least 83% of the time. Behold the nominees:

DRAMA SERIES
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO) 
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Downton Abbey” (PBS)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“Homeland” (Showtime) Haven’t watched it
“Mad Men” (AMC)

Also, 16 of the 24 acting nominations in the drama category are from the five checked shows above. That’s pretty snappy, I’ll tell ya. Go Joan Holloway, go Jesse Pinkman.

I’ll also mention the miniseries category, which includes nominations for “Hatfields & McCoys,” “American Horror Story,” and “Game Change,” all of which I have seen and enjoyed.

Why did I not list any comedy series today? Because I don’t watch sitcoms. Why? Because…I don’t know. Please don’t think me a humorless numpty; I just clammah for the drammah.

Banner year for Finkertainment, that’s what I say.

All right, fiends. Time to do some serious bill paying. Happy payday!  :|

Glurgsday

Glurg.

That’s kind of how I feel this morning, and I don’t even know what “glurg” is. Just sounds right.

I think once I get back home from this meeting in Columbus, I’ll be less glurgish. In 15 minutes, I need to be hitting the showers and the road. Does THAT sound familiar? Oy. Maybe that’s why I’m glurg-y this morning. It is right around the corner. It starts unbelievably early this year. Usually, it starts around my birthday, on the 25th of next month. But this year, faculty have to report on what…the 16th? (Hey, that’s our fiend Stoney’s birthday.)

It makes my tummy get all glurg’d up.

Not sure what to expect this year; there are some huge changes, not only in my program, but in the district as well. Y’know…I used to love big changes. The anticipation and the mystery were real motivators. Now? Not so much. I know, I’m showing my age. But can’t a girl just want some peace, and not all this upheaval? Honestly. People just need to SIMMA DOWN.

OK, I’m fine now. :-)

I just found out that an old girlfriend of mine from high school moved back to the area after living in Florida for decades. It’ll be good to see her again after all these many moons. If all goes well, we’re meeting at Bux tomorrow. How about you? Any plans for the weekend I need to know about/approve? Let fly.

FO — to Columbus and beyond. Glurg.