Firefly fans

I got this from Little Sebastien's blog.

Hey, Brown Coats,

NASA is holding a contest to name the new node to the International Space Station. One of the options is "Serenity."....and it's winning so far!

painful two days

Thursday:
So, I get antibiotics for my UTI. Same medication I've had before with absolutely NO ill effects. Pharmacist, after informing me that he'll have to see if they have it, gives me a generic version of the drug. Then I take my first dose, eat and go to work because my boss was freaking out that I was not there to plate a job he'd been sitting on for a week. I'm in pain all the time. Get to work and the pressman is leaving for the day - at noon - so nothing will be printed before monday, anyway. I go in to plate the job and the client has come up with a last-minute global change on a large part of the files. Make the change and send proofs to the client for approval to finish the project. Client still had not gotten back to me by the time I left.

Friday:
After two doses of generic antibiotics, the original scalding pain is nearly gone but is replaced by nausea and a horrible headache. The headache is probably caused by a combination of the drugs and my avoiding coffee for a day. Yes, I am a caffeine addict. Not a good time to stop drinking coffee but it can irritate things that are already not feeling so good. Boss is not in office. Pressman leaves early again. Client has still not responded to the last group of changes that I sent, so I finish what I feel confident about and leave early. Got home and spent the rest of the day between the bed and the bathroom, too sick to move. Phoned the doctor's office and could only get voicemail. A nurse phoned me a couple of hours later and said they'd phoned in a new prescription to the pharmacy. Monster picked up my new drugs and some canned soup.

Saturday:
I spent most of the day in bed. Got up in the late afternoon, drank green tea and had some chicken noodle soup and took a pill before going back down. Had a raging headache all night but the nausea was at last gone.

Sunday:
Woke up. Got a smoothie, followed by a cup of coffee and a pill. The coffee worked its magic and the headache is almost gone. I can focus my eyes again for the first time in two days. (I really should not have been driving on friday but I had no choice.)

So far, so good. Fingers crossed that I'll be well for work tomorrow morning.

sick

Woke up with an incredible UTI this morning. I'll save you the horrid details.
Learned something new about white blood cells and evidence of them.

Back on Spend Cycle

We are entering another big spending zone now.

Started with MonsterMustDie's money spent on repairs to his van. He felt so good about finally getting his car repaired and his personal mobile freedom restored, he decided to take the van to a car wash. Then the hose blew the side view mirror off, shattering to pieces when it hit the pavement.
He had to order a new mirror today from the dealership, which will hopefully be in sometime tomorrow. He's planning to glue it on himself, rather than paying labor costs. Rarely do his money-saving attempts end well. In my mind, I picture the new mirror falling off in the first day or two as he's going down the highway, maybe at the first pothole he hits, and having to go back again to the dealership to purchase another overpriced part.

Then I had a routine dental check up and cleaning last Friday and they found a new cavity so I have another appointment in a couple of weeks for a brand new filling. This seriously upsets me, as if having a cavity is a sign that the end is near and my health is declining because I have a hole in my tooth. Like my body is suddenly breaking down like the old van.

Then, on top of my sound not working in my computer, a recent system upgrade has killed my FTP software. I'll try various freeware for a while, but I know it's time to upgrade my professional packages - all of them. The current Adobe CS4 is not offered as an upgrade for my CS2 package. I would have to upgrade to CS3 first and that is not offered any more, either. So, having missed an upgrade, I need to order a complete version of the new CS4 design suite. To be honest, the complete package seems no more expensive than going through two subsequent upgrades from CS2 to CS3, and then from CS3 to CS4 if I'd kept up. The savings in price on the upgrade is roughly only half of what a new complete package costs. Then I need to upgrade Suitcase font software to 2.0 or higher. That's just $50+. Those are my three immediate needs.

Not so urgently needed: I need to buy QuarkXpress 8.2. Then a new scanner, and that should do it until I need to replace the computer.

All this and the condo is sitting empty while MonsterMustDie is cleaning it to his satisfaction. That 795.00 each month lost from our normal budget while we still have to pay rent on a house.

UFO Attack

limited mobility

We are a one-car household for the remains of this week. Monster had to take his van to the mechanic this morning. The diagnoses was the replacement of a reasonably inexpensive part that they have to remove the engine to get to. Labor will be $1,300+. Part is $200. I mentioned the idea that, along with all the electrical problems the van has, that it might be time to invest in a new car but he thinks it's still cheaper to fix what he's got. So, the estimate is that the van will be ready by Saturday or Sunday. Meanwhile, unless he can afford to rent a car, he'll be driving my Honda to work this week.
I have to pick him up on the northwest side town today after work.

R.I.P.: Lux Interior of the Cramps

R.I.P.: Lux Interior of the Cramps
By Judy Berman
Posted on February 04, 2009

lux interior.jpg



Whoa. Is it just me or have there been too many notable rock 'n' roll deaths in the past few months? Well, here's one I really wasn't expecting and am absolutely devastated to hear about. Lux Interior, front man of legendary punk band the Cramps, is dead.

Born Erick Lee Purkhiser on October 21, 1948 in Stow, Ohio, Lux Interior was one of the band's founding members. In 1972, Purkhiser picked up a hitchhiker named Kristy "Poison Ivy" Wallace in Sacramento, CA. They fell in love and moved to New York City, where they formed the Cramps in 1976, along with Bryan Gregory and his sister, Pam. Though the backing line up has changed over the years, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy helmed the band together for over 30 years.

The Cramps have had too many impressive albums and singles to name here. Suffice it to say that they were among the first bands to fuse punk with rockabilly and that their music, style and ferocious performances have had an enormous influence on subsequent generations.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Cramps only once, a few years back, at a horrible, oversold Motherfucker party. Though I could barely see, it seemed that Lux, Poison Ivy and co. were putting on a lively, energetic show. Though he was already 60, I think Lux had a lot more in him, which makes his untimely death even more depressing.

Here's hoping that wherever Lux is now, there are leather pants, tough girls with wild, red hair and killer rockabilly riffs. For the rest of us, The Daily Swarm has collected a few great Cramps videos. I, for one, will be watching with a glass of whiskey in my hand and a face full of tears.

There is a huge difference between running a business cautiously and being too fearful to run a business.
Its equivalent is spending a dollar to save a nickel.
Yeah. There are demons in every dark corner.