Thread 12 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 11).

The days are gradually growing longer, but the worst of the winter weather is not yet behind us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Oh dear, VictorianBigot let's hope the drugs do work.

More than halfway through! Imagine us all at the finish line cheering you on, Mouse. I'm sorry it's being so awful at the moment.

Thank you, @Britinme things have been better today. It seems to be very bad day, better day. I'm hoping that's not going to be the case but if it is I can live with it because at least I'll be having better days!

I saw my dietician today and she gave me some prescription cuppa soups which contain 250 calories and 10g of protein. I had one as soon as I came home and with some extra seasoning they're not bad so I'm pleased about that. Anyway, onwards and upwards!

Glad you had a better day today @MouseMinge - let’s hope it’s the first of a long run of better days.

A bit late but love and sympathy to both @VictorianBigot and @MouseMinge it's shit, really fucking shit, and neither of you deserve it.

What they said Mouse & Brit. I love the idea of prescription cuppa soup.

If anyone fancies 40 minutes of gentle amusement, there's an entertaining episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage on the vexed question of cats vs. dogs. My favourite moment is when a dog supporter is discussing which are more intelligent and admits that when you try to test this, by teaching them stuff, it's impossible to tell whether the cats don't understand what you want them to do or whether they do understand but simply can't be arsed. 😆

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hbmmdm

I do think it’s the former with Kasper. He knows ‘lie down’ but when I offer him a treat in exchange for lying down I can almost see the cogs turning in his brain as he desperately tries to remember what I want him to do. The irony is he spends most of his life lying down with no prompting whatsoever.

I think cats are essentially autistic. Ours have routines and get quite bothered if they are interrupted or altered.

It is a vexing question. Dogs are obviously intelligent, they can learn stuff blah. But are cats thicker or just can't be arsed because they know they don't have to and they'll still be fed and loved and all that. Also, dogs were domesticated but the consensus seems to be that cats domesticated themselves. After dogs had been domesticated. So, did cats see what the dogs were getting and think "I'll have some of that, it beats hunting. Unless I want to hunt and then I'll hunt, but if I can't be arsed that creature will feed me anyway."

The wolves and the hominid apes domesticated each other long long ago to mutual benefit, neither animal would be what it is today without the other.

Cats are a huge alien collective sussing us out on a very long (by our standards) timescale. When they sit with half-closed eyes they are (sometimes) downloading reports to the mothership.

I picked a pretty spring posy for the dining table the other day but when I came down to breakfast found someone had munched all the scillas down to the waterline. Not wise as they're slightly toxic (1) . So then I picked a bunch of nice spiky but also juicy grass for them, and that's all been chomped off too, so I must pick them some more.

(1) someone also left an unusually nasty deposit in the litter tray - I'm inclined to link the two events.

Happy St Patrick's Day.

Cats do often look as if they're buffering. That explains it.

Wish me luck. I'm headed for an A&E department notorious for long queues. On St Patrick's. (There's chance my retina may be falling off, so I'm hoping they'll be able to scoot me over to the eye A&E where it may be a little quieter.)

Yikes! Hope you don’t have to wait too long and that all is well, @NoBinturongsHereMate

It's a 'probably fine, but if it is a problem best fixed early' thing. Trouble is their triage was very efficient and whisked me in straight after a brisk walk, so they now want to look at my heart which was rather fast.

I have snacks.

Fingers crossed for you, Bint.

Just had a chat with my DD to find out that my DGD (7) is being referred for assessment for ASD. This is largely on account of anxiety and meltdowns that aren't age-appropriate. My DD is a psychotherapist and I absolutely trust her judgement in these matters, and I know she's been concerned about it for a while. She's a lovely mum and dealing with her daughter beautifully (I wish I'd either had or been a mother like her!) so I'm sure it will work out for the best whatever happens. I pointed her at the Education threads here, as I know there are a lot of people with that experience here.

Fingers crossed all goes well, Binturong! And for your DGD, Brit!

Thanks Veg. I just learned that today is not only St Patrick's day but also St Gertrude of Nivelle's saint's day - she is the patron of cats and cat lovers so one for this thread I think.

Happy Saint Gertrude's day!

I used to love Saint Patrick's day as a child. At school assembly we'd always sing "Hail Glorious Saint Patrick" which was a hymn I rather liked and the relatives in Ireland would send over shamrock for us to wear. The shamrock had stopped by the time I was at secondary school but thankfully not Hail Glorious Saint Patrick remained.

I hope that your retina is not falling out @NoBinturongsHereMate but if it is at least you're in the right place. It's annoying that they're focusing on your heart. It could well just be anxiety which is nothing to worry about in the circumstances. Mine has been speeding like a race horse a couple of times recently and it's all to do with rushing. When they give me a few minutes it gets back to normal but I do know that in A&E they can sometimes focus on something that is not the thing that is the big problem. Keep us updated!

Retina sounds scary! I thought that only happened to rugby players and boxers and suchlike, but I assume not in this case, Bint! Hope all goes well.

Retinas have been checked and are fine, so they're now thinking visual migraine, possibly triggered by my blood pressure being through the roof, so the heart may not have been a mis-steer after all. They are now examining my humours (well, they claim it's blood and urine tests ...).

Have they found the elusive black bile yet?

That may be why they're all hiding in the back!

It all sounds very unpleasant @NoBinturongsHereMate, I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. I actually feel mostly fine.