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…

Sympathetic e-hugs Mouse. I'm so sorry and I hope this improves very soon.

Does anybody know how to find posts you've saved? I've saved a couple and can't work out how to find them.

@MouseMinge Hooray for chemo almost being over and being able to get dressed and undressed more easily. I'm sorry you're feeling so weak, and all the heaving must be awful. Hopefully you'll be able to build your strength up again soon. Please youyouyou any time.

After a few days of not really feeling much in the way of Zoladex effects, I've been dizzy AF today and the pain has been quite bad too. I also have the eye stabbing headache back and some nausea. I had to go back to bed this afternoon but Kasper woke me up. He must have interrupted a crucial part of my sleep cycle or something as I felt extremely groggy and out of it for an hour afterwards. It's a good job he's so cute 😾

That sounds rather gruelling, Mouse. But last portable chemo! So hopefully it's upwards from here.

Brit, saved posts have a tab in the 'I'm on' page (menu at the bottom of the page on my phone, not sure where on the desktop version).

Bah to side effects, VictorianBigot. And to being woken at the wrong part of the sleep cycle. MrBint has a knack for doing that, and he's not as cute as Kasper.

Kasper is definitely cute but waking at the wrong part of the sleep cycle is so discombobulating! I'm a dreadful cat owner because on the odd occasion that Francis does that I tell him to fuck off in the manner of a very grumpy bear awoken early from hibernation and if necessary pull the duvet over my head.

I'll generally apologize later but I have always been a bear and cuteness doesn't mitigate that.

MouseMinge · 01/04/2024 17:58

I'm a snail saver. If it's been raining and they're out on pavements and stuff and likely to be crushed I pick them up, have a little word with them and find them somewhere safe to unfurl again and go about their lives. I'm very fond of snails.

Me too and the girl, as well. She also rescues worms from pavements and puts them on soil.

I wish you all the best with chemo and eating.

Anyway, here's the Scorpion Bug.

Thanks @NoBinturongsHereMate but I normally read on my iPad (larger screen!) and I don't see it there. I'll check phone and desktop when I'm on there.

What can you say about people like this? 😡 It beggars belief:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68716467

Holy shit! What have I just read?

I haven't read it because I don't want to cry/be angry but I have heard about/read a bit about these people before and while I'm against the death penalty and wouldn't suggest that they be executed I also really, really want to execute them.

So, still ropey but managed more nutrition yesterday and am aiming to up it again today if my stomach can take it. Here's hoping I get less ropey and more well. Cancer is such bloody hard work.

Today, however, I've had some top news. I'll try and keep it short, but it's me so who knows!

When I moved in here in December 2023 I did a meter read on my first day. Looking back I think/know I transcribed on number wrong because when I looked at it again the next month that particular number on the reading had increased by a lot. Say gone from 2 to 8 although of course I can't remember now. I could really see the difference because I have two meters, normal and night storage heating. I was surprised but my bill came through and it was all fine. I was of course forgetting that the bills were estimates because I'm a halfwit. This went on for the majority of the year but I stopped reading the meter because it's in an awkward place and with various ailments leading to where I am now it was too difficult for me to manage.

And then came either Decemeber of last year or January this year and I'd paid my monthly bill - always a more expensive in winter because that's the way these things work - and another bill came through for hundreds of pounds. Wait, what? I contacted my provider. Someone had come to read my meter and I'd been underpaying. Ouch. Thankfully, my provider has been bloody great. I'd read that they were but didn't believe it because most companies are arseholes. They were understanding, we changed some tariff stuff, I upped to just above a comfortable amount to pay by direct debit each month and they said it's fine to bring the bill down gradually, but of course going month to month with that much debt weighs on one.

Enter Snoop. She found a company/group/something or other who had a lot of money to help people with energy debt who'd got it from the government. There was a limited time to apply but I did and was hoping to get £250 to cut a hole in the debt. They called me today and thank heavens they did because of some miscommunication - them trying to contact Snoop in India (she's my feeble person's advocate - and they thought they didn't have the latest statement information from me. I both knew I'd sent it and also chemo brain told me that maybe I'd imagined it. The former was correct. The woman - who was lovely - found it and said she'd be back to me as soon as she could to let me know what was happening. ANYWAY! Within the next fortnight £400 will be paid into my outstanding debt which won't wipe it out but will get me as near as dammit to no debt. The relief is ENORMOUS! It's like an early birthday present (it's this weekend) and who knew this sort of thing was out there?!

So, that's my top news. The only fly in the ointment was that when she called back to let me know the good news my stomach decided to heave and I'm trying to talk to her whilst also heaving into a plastic bowl. Not pretty for the poor woman. Or me! Life is hard but this lovely grant has just made it a tiny bit easier. Huzzah for the people who've helped and huzzah for Snoop who digged around to find the information. I must have done something really good in a former life to deserve a friend like her.

Oh that’s excellent news. Snoop is the kind of friend everyone needs! Sorry about the heaving though.

Well, that's damned good news, Mouse!

That monkey article may be the most sickening thing I've ever read.

In much better news - hooray for Snoop and her help for Mouse - that's so good to hear.

And in bah but it will be over soon I hope, we have yet another power cut from the storm last night. Luckily my phone is charged and I have a backup power bank.

The regular power cuts must be really annoying @Britinme - is it worth thinking about battery storage?

I hope it's already over, @Britinme

Still feeble but I had a visit from my dietician today and she became both dietician and counseller (sp?). Lots of tears from me as I admitted stuff that I haven't to anyone else and we decided to remove my feeding tube because as much as I tell them I'll use it I have a mental block with it. Surprisingly easy to remove it and no real ickiness until the very last second which was great. I need to be more active with my nutrition but she pointed out stuff to me, I was honest and we talked about what was going on in my own mental head.

I have a friend, B, coming tomorrow to give me a birthday present I asked her for. What I asked is for her to come to mine tidy up, do some washing up, take my laundry to the laundrette, get a wash done, bring it back, clean out my bath - because Francis has been peeing in it - and then be there while I shower so that I don't have to worry about passing out and banging my head. It's going to make my mental health about a million times better. Or at least a hundred.

And talking about Francis ... His eye has become visible again over the last couple of days but his cheek was still very swollen. He'd been out and came back in when my dietician was here. I was telling her what had been going on with her and that we could see his eye now, but oh the swelling. Laydeez and gentlemenz the swelling was gone! The fur on his cheek is a bit matted and was a bit damp but clearly the abscess has esploded or something and my handsome boy has his face back. That is another thing that has made my poor old mental health a LOT better. All in all a day that was far better than I had any right to expect when it started.

I'm so glad you had that session of counselling and help from your friend, Mouse - sounds really positive.

My power cut lasted from about 3am to about 7:30pm. I do have a small battery bank to charge phone and iPad, but it's not worth buying a generator to back up the house. It has been unusual in having three power cuts this winter. When we lived further out in the country we had a generator because we had a well and a well pump that had to be kept going, but the 5000 watt generator only ran the well pump, the boiler, the fridge and one upstairs light. It's not worth the cost of the generator and installing the specialist circuit to run it when we don't have cuts often. I think we've only had one in the previous five years here.

One of the problems is that except in the middle of cities the power lines are all overhead, and we have a lot of trees, so heavy snow or ice brings branches down on them. Maine is a pretty rural state, and it's not feasible to have underground power lines in many places, but of course power lines down in one places interrupts supply elsewhere. My friend three miles from me said her power flickered but didn't go out.

@Britinme I got ridiculously excited last night - and that will probably be continuing at a lower level until Monday - when I went to look up where in the US the total eclipse will be viewable and saw that Maine is one of the places!

Will you come here and tell us all about it? I really am so excited for you!

P.s. I'm glad the power is back on.

My friend and I were talking about going to Maine to see the eclipse but concluded neither of us is in a fit state to travel! I saw the solar eclipse in Hyde Park in 1999 but it was quite cloudy so there wasn't actually much to see. I watched a video of it the other day and got a bit emotional thinking back to Different Times.

I remember standing on the office roof in Covent Garden watching it. A friend of a friend actually gave birth during it, and the baby has the middle name Eclipse!

I was on Highbury Fields and remember it went from being a warm day to being quite chilly surprisingly quickly.

Aww, that's lovely! I hope to see another one in my lifetime, perhaps in 2026 as it will be visible in Spain apparently.

I remember that eclipse. We went down to Dorset and camped on an impromptu campsite set up by a local farmer. Bugger all facilities but there was a cheerful festival atmosphere and everyone had a good time. A big crowd of us walked to some nearby cliffs and had a real show. It got quite cold very quickly and, when the sun came back, I noticed that all the flowers had closed and the cows had gone to their sleeping place under some trees. As the sky turned dark, the sea birds had a huge conniption and made a great deal of noise.

The nearest shop or pub was a couple of miles away and with the lanes being so narrow, most people walked to the local village to go to the pub and buy food. By the time we set off back to the campsite it was quite dark and, as the roads were unlit, a small group carrying torches gathered who were all heading the same way. Long before we reached the campsite, all the torches ran out of power, so it turned into a rather surreal experience of walking along in the dark talking to a group of people you never saw.

Wow @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast, that sounds like an amazing experience!

It was great!