September 23, 2007

Self Portrait Sunday for September 23, 2007

So I got my eyes examined yesterday. My vision has actually improved quite a bit, so a new prescription is called for. I’ve ordered my new glasses and they should arrive next week. They’re pretty much a duplicate of the ones I’m wearing now. The vison test went very much as I anticipated in the post I did yesterday, with me feeling like a cheater but the doctor feeling confident that he knows what my eyes need. One thing he thought I needed was shades much darker than my regular clip-ons to protect my eyes until the pupils returned to their normal size after he blew them up with eye drops. He happened to have a stylish pair of sufficiently dark slip-ons handy, so I left his office looking totally glam (NOT!) My pupils are returning to normal and the slip-ons have be relegated to the drawer that holds numerous such trophies from past opthamalogical encounters.

Now I must trot off to DigiCass to focus my gaze on the self portraits of many friends. Won’t you join me?

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 9:15 pm • Photos, Meme • 10 comments  

September 22, 2007

Searching for 20/20

I’ve worn glasses since I was quite young. My first grade teacher noticed that I was squinting a lot and moved me to the front of the classroom so I could read the blackboard, then notified my parents that I probably needed to have my eyes tested. The day I got my first glasses I had the very typical reaction of one who was extremely nearsighted. “Mama, the green is so … green! And I can see all the different trees!” Like many others with vision problems, I hadn’t realized how much I was missing. I hadn’t known that other people saw anything more than a blob of green when gazing at our back yard. In the almost five decades since, I’ve never once lost a pair of glasses (well, except for the pair that got swept away in the Brazos on a tubing expedition.) I always know where my glasses are. They’re either on my face, on the table right beside my bed (while I’m sleeping) or on the vanity in the bathroom (while I’m showering.) Unlike those of you who wear glasses only some of the time, I’ve never left mine in a car or on a restaurant table.

I had eye exams annually until about ten years ago, with a new prescription being required every couple of years. During the last decade I haven’t had any health coverage so I’ve gone every second or third year. Last time out the exam and glasses cost me about $350 and that’s just not something I can do each year. The lenses in my current pair are badly scratched. The glasses came with two pair of magnetic clip-on sunshades. One pair was damaged and I lost the second pair (see, that’s what happens with something you don’t keep on your face all the time!) Replacements were $35 each, so I bought a cheap pair of clip-ons at the discount store instead. Instead of fitting the frames magnetically, the cheapo substitues have four little clips that rest on the lenses. The little plastic sleeves wore off of the clips & my glasses are now scratched enough that it’s affecting my vision. I tried to order a new pair yesterday. No go! My opticians refused to fill a prescription that was badly out of date, so I’m going to be seeing my opthamologist for an eye exam in a few hours.

I hate eye exams. It’s not the pain-fear like a trip to the dentist induces, not the “they’re going to find a deadly disease and I’d rather not know” fear that a physical invokes. No, the thing I hate about eye exams is the honesty factor. I always feel like I’m cheating! I don’t mind the Snellen eye chart (left) or the color-blindness test. Those are pretty clear cut. The results are what they are. No, it’s that other test that makes me crazy. I couldn’t find it online and don’t know what it’s called, but I think it’s used to fine-tune a prescription. I’ll be shown a series of images with one eye and then the other. Each time I’ll be asked which is sharper. Some of the images are so close to identical that I can’t see any difference at all, but I feel pressured to answer, so I pick one randomly. The test seems to take forever. Forehead resting on a prop, I stare through sci-fi looking binoculars as image after image flicks past. “Which is better? (pause) This one? (pause) Or this one? (pause) This one? (pause) Or this one? (pause) This one? (pause) Or this one?” On and on and on, with me getting more and more nervous until I’m almost twitching and want nothing more than to run screaming from the darkened room. Most of the time I can’t see any difference, but I just want the test to be over with so I blurt out rapid-fire answers just to get it done. I know other people who say it’s the same for them. So if we are all just making it up as we go along, how accurate can such a test be? Yet, somehow, the doctor always manages to collect the needed data and order just the right correction for my lousy eyes. How does that work? Is it graded on a curve with the cheating factor built in? Do they average out our answers and somehow magically land on the correct corrrection for each eye? It’s a mystery to me. All I know is that I’ll be putting my glasses on the vanity in a few minutes. I’ll take a shower, get myself all dolled up and go cheat my way through another eye exam. Next week I’ll pick up a new pair of glasses and be amazed all over again as little details I’ve been missing come into focus. The end result is all good. I just wish I didn’t have to feel like a charlatan to get there.

Technorati Tags: eye exam, eyes, glasses, nearsightedness, vison correction

September 21, 2007

Hardwood floors?

I have a love/hate relationship with my house. I love owning my own home and I’ve had a lot of fun fixing things up. I really hate that something always needs replacing or a major repair always crops up every time I get a little money built up in the bank. I’m a little ahead of things right now, so of course my water heater got cranky this week and will probably have to be replaced. That’s the kind of repair I’m not in love with because I can’t do it myself. I’ll be lucky if the plumber doesn’t get everything I have built up in my house fund. I didn’t mind spending about $30,000 for the new room, wrap-around lanai and landscaping last year. I’m pretty sure I’ll resent every penny of the few hundred the water heater will cost, especially since it will have to come out of money I’m saving towards new flooring and a kitchen remodel.

I have some of the materials for the kitchen already stored out in my shed. My cabinet fronts will be birch with a pickled finish and, I think, pewter hardware. I haven’t selected my flooring yet because I’m still not sure what I want. The look I want is barnwood. I’m about a half-mile in from the ocean, but I’m going for a beach cottage look. The barnwood finish looks like it’s been weathered by sand and salt. What I haven’t decided is whether I should go with vinyl or hardwood. I’ve been looking at BR-111 flooring but still haven’t made up my mind. I grew up with hardwood floors. I love the look and feel of them, and the aroma of wood and wax (though I remember hating waxing and buffing when I was a kid.) Hardwood floors would also increase the value of my home. The only reason I hesitate to get them is that I have dogs and know that I will always have dogs. Both of my guys have pretty good manners, but accidents happen, especially now that Buddy is older and in poor health. Vinyl floors are more waterproof, easier to clean and have less seams for things to get into. While I love the BR-111 hardwood floors I’ve looked at, vinyl would be more practical. I don’t have to decide right away. I want to install the flooring after the new cabinets and breakfast bar go in. That’s probably about a year away, so I’ve got lots of time for daydreaming and working out details. The only problem with that, of course, is that with hundreds of available options, I’ll probably change my mind dozens of times before the remodel gets under way. Not that that’s a real problem, though, because coming up with the final design and material selections is the part of the remodel I’m going to love the most.

Technorati Tags: flooring, hardwood floors, home remodel

September 18, 2007

Carnival of Injustice

The Carnival of Injustice is making its debut today at The Stars Are Gone. (If you saw this post earlier, I had the wrong link. Sorry! It’s corrected now.) Suni originated the carnival to highlight stories of injustice around the world. “The more people know, the more change can occur.” This first edition of the carnival will feature the current travesty taking place in Jena, Louisiana, where six young black men are being horribly mis-handled by the court system. You’ll find several posts about the Jena 6 and have another opportunity to become involved in their advocacy if you haven’t done so yet.

Future editions of the Carnival of Injustice are scheduled to run every other Friday. Check out the details and be thinking about stories you’d like to share with the world.

Technorati Tags: blog carnivals, Carnival of injustice, social advocacy, social causes

Tuesday Teaser Photo Verification

Ladies and gents, bloggers and lurkers - we have a winner! My fellow BookCrosser at Puss Reboots guessed correctly that the Tuesday Teaser photo puzzle was taken from a picture of a report binder. The report in question was not about Broward county real estate, but it could have been, lol! This week’s winner will get TWO linky love posts and TWO chances to win the gift card for September because there was no winner last week.

Mahalo to you all for playing. I’ll try to puzzle and amuse you again with my Tuesday Teaser next week. See you there!

Technorati Tags: contest, photo puzzle, puzzle

September 17, 2007

Tuesday Teaser for September 18, 2007

Can you identify the item depicted above? Just take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll win a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is.
2. First person to identify the item wins.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The winner’s name will be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon.
3. Drawing for the gift card will be held on or about September 30, 2007, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are four Tuesdays in September, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is four.
4. I don’t usually give hints, but this week I will assure you that the picture was not taken at a http://wooddashexperts.com/customer/Chrysler-300-Accessories.html shop.

Other stuff

1. All comments to this blog are time and date stamped. The winner will be the first person (according to time and date stamp) to provide the correct answer.
2. No hints will be given.
3. Answers must specifically identify the item. For instance, if the item depicted were to be a button on a remote control, the answer “button on something electronic” would not suffice.
4. Decisions of the judge are final. Don’t argue with me. I won’t answer.
5. I will attempt to post every few hours as to whether or not a winner has been declared, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
6. Entries must be posted before 12:01 a.m. Thursday, September20, 2007, Hawaii time (GMT -10, approximately forty-eight hours from now.)
7. This is intended to be an ongoing feature at Skeet’s Stuff. If it turns out to be a dud it will cease to exist, but all qualified winners will get their prizes.
8. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.
9. Let the fun begin!

Technorati Tags: contests, photos, photo contest, blog contest

September 16, 2007

Self Portrait Sunday for September 16, 2007

I spent a considerable amount of time today trying to take a few family portraits. It was not terribly productive, but it was fun and giggly until Buddy decided he was tired of the flashy thing going off in his eyes. He quickly adopted the demeanor of a crabby woman needing PMS relief, so we’ve given it up for today. I’ll try to get my friend to take some pictures of the three of us together next time she’s over. It’s just too tough to get both boys into the frame with me when I’ve got a camera in one hand.

Now I’m going to go visit Digi-Cass and see who else is playing with flashy things for Self Portrait Sunday. Did you play today? If you didn’t, will you join us next week - just for giggles & grins?

Technorati Tags: dogs, meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 6:58 pm • Photos, Meme • 11 comments  

Buddy is feeling better!

Mahalo nui loa to all of you who have been sending good thoughts for Buddy. The vet thinks that his new prescription for incontinence had nothing to do with his collapse, but since the incontinence had not been a major problem we decided to take him off of it anyway. He was dripping a bit from time to time, but not much - and I have tile floors and a good mop.

Buddy usually sleeps on his side. I think maybe he’s changed postions because this way distributes his weight more evenly and doesn’t stress his hips. He’s had arthritis in the left hip since he was a pup and had to have femoral head surgery on it a while back. The strain of throwing his weight to his right hip has caused it to deteriorate, too. If he were younger and healthier, we’d be discussing femoral head surgery for the right hip, but he’s too old to put through that again. He has very little muscle mass on either hip or thigh and that’s apparently reached the point where his joints are having to work harder. That causes inflamation and swelling in the joints and is probably the reason he was having trouble.

We’ve spent a lot of quality time together the last few days. Buddy prefers the living room to my office, so I’ve been watching a lot of movies with him beside me or at my feet. Maybe I should get one of those home theater popcorn machines to enhance our experience, ya think?
The predisone already has him back on his feet, though he’s still not overly confident about the step down from the living room to the lanai. Coming back up seems to be more difficult than going down. The incontinence is a bigger problem now because pred makes him very thristy and he’s drinking a lot of water. Since he’s not moving fast and he hesitates at the step, there have been some accidents. I put newspapers near both doors. He walked very carefully around them and peed in the middle of the floor. With the trade winds billowing in, the newspapers were blowing all around anyway. Tile floors, mop, plenty of blue Sparkiling Wave Pine-Sol. We can live with that.

Both boys start trying to herd me towards the pantry every day at around five. When they finally succeed they nudge each other as if acknowledging that they’ve pulled off a neat trick. Buddy likes to stand between my feet as I’m preparing their nightly fare.

The vet says the predinisone treatment may buy Buddy anywhere from six months to two years of relief from joint pain. I’ll try to help him get more exercise and build some muscle back up once the treatment is a little further along. Still, he’s old, deaf and almost blind. It’s unrealistic to think he’ll be around much longer. I don’t plan to prolong his life if pain can’t be easily treated. I know his best pal will miss him as much as I will. Lance has a severe heart murmur and could “wake up dead” any day, as I’ve been told for several years. I can’t imagine life without either one of them, but we’ll just keep on enjoying each other’s company for now.

Technorati Tags: dogs, dogs and aging, pets

September 14, 2007

Clay Nelson, Life Coach

I’m in a regulated industry. That means I have to be licensed to do what I do, and I have to maintain proficiency by participating in continuing ed courses. I’ve lost track of how many classes I’ve taken over the years and how many seminars I’ve attended. One thing that industry leaders recognize is that the entire person needs to be nurtured, so many of the seminars and conventions I’ve attended have included motivational speakers and workshops on the agenda. I always come away from them revitalized and with a new focus. I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, so I was excited when I got a CD series from life coach Clay Nelson and was asked to review it.

Clay Nelson’s Getting Started Series focuses on “Having a say in how your life turns out.” The three CD set helps you map out where you are, where you want to go and how you want to get there. As you listen to the first CD, you’re led through an exericse that helps identify those things, and then encouraged to make a purpose statment that will serve as a focus and daily reminder. The second CD will teach you how to Let Your Fear Serve You, and the third focuses on Committment. Life Balance is not just a feel-good exercise. It stimulates critical thinking and provides life planning tools that you can use every day, in your business, interacting with family and in social settings. I’ve been listening to the CDs while driving the last few days and plan on listening to them again this weekend without the distractions of traffic and a busy schedule. The Getting Started series comes with a code that will allow me to access additional information on Clay Nelson’s site, so I can reap additional benefits beyond the CD series. Clay Nelson also conducts seminars and workshops, so I’m hoping someone will bring him to Hawaii some day so I can hear more of what he has to say. Check out his site to schedule him for an event or to select CDs and other resource materials for your own use.

Technorati Tags: Clay Nelson, motivational speaker, self-improvement

Buddy is having problems

I took Buddy to the vet last week for his checkup and shots. He’s about thirteen or fourteen years old and showing his age. His labs came back and I picked up some medicine to help with incontinence on Wednesday. I gave it to him that morning and evening. On Thursday (yesterday) I gave him the morning dose. Shortly after noon Buddy’s rear legs went out from under him and he couldn’t get back up. I tried to help him stand and he snapped at me, so I think he was in pain. I finally resorted to muzzling him so I could get him onto his pillow bed.

I helped Buddy stand several times throughout the afternoon. Lance is seven years old, but still behaves like a goofy puppy. He was super-attentive of Buddy yesterday and kept knocking him over in his attempts to play. Buddy was very impatient with him and it began to look like there might be bloodshed if I didn’t keep them apart. I brought their big outdoor crate in and they took turns being confined. Lance stayed right by Buddy all afternoon.

We’ve established a new routine already. Lance seems to realize that he can’t get too playful with Buddy. If he does, Buddy gives a low growl and Lance backs off. Neither is crated and this seems to be working fine. I helped Buddy get out of the crate this morning and helped him up when he fell several times. That was a couple of hours ago. He’s eaten the dinner he didn’t want last night and is drinking plenty of water. I’ve carried him outside several times and he’s taking care of business just fine. The big change is that he’s pacing relentlessly. He apparently doesn’t want to lie down or even sit because he can’t get back up.

I have a vet appointment scheduled for this afternoon. I don’t know if this sudden deterioration was caused by the new meds or if it’s the natural progression of the hip problems Buddy has had for years. I haven’t given him the meds since this started. I’m hoping there is something the vet can do that will help him get back to what he was two days ago. Buddy is old and I know he won’t be with me much longer, but this change has been so abrupt that I’m not willing to just accept it and move on. Your support and kind thoughts for my old friend would be much appreciated.

That top photo is from a video I took last night with my digital camera. I’ll try to figure out later how to get it into a different format so I can put it online in some future post.

Technorati Tags: Buddy, dogs, dog health, senior dogs