Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

No weigh in today. She had a hairball before her breakfast. I scooped some food off her plate and served a reduced portion for breakfast. It took her a couple more hours to get to it. And I wonder if that soured her stomach. Because shortly after she ate her reduced breakfast, she returned it on the carpet. We have a no treats without eats policy. So no treat to get her on the scale. I doubt she is interested anyway. She just loaded up on water and seems uncertain whether she can set her head down. I do have that retained portion I scooped off her plate after her hairball. But she’s not very convincing that she’s ready for it yet. May just tummy rest her until a reduced lunch.

 

[daftcat75]

Ooof! I guess we're waiting for lunch. She just tossed three more spits (water and stomach acid.)

I loaded a syringe with water and her neutral base hemp oil in hopes that will help settle her tummy.

I know I just went running yesterday. But I kind of want to go running again this morning. That would help run down the clock until her lunch and give us both some space and peace to work through this however she needs to work through it.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Ooof! I guess we're waiting for lunch. She just tossed three more spits (water and stomach acid.)

I loaded a syringe with water and her neutral base hemp oil in hopes that will help settle her tummy.

I know I just went running yesterday. But I kind of want to go running again this morning. That would help run down the clock until her lunch and give us both some space and peace to work through this however she needs to work through it.

Well, then, you probably should! and hopefull Betty will feel better soon and be able to eat.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty seems to be on the mend. It took her a bit after I plated her lunch before she would come down to it. I gave her a 2/3 portion. Of that, she ate half. I guess she also wanted to take it slow. I left to let her sort it out. I told myself she will probably finish her lunch before I finish mine. Sure enough, just as I finished mine, I checked on her on the camera and saw her finishing hers. Hopefully it all stays down and she can have a 4/5 or 5/6 dinner and be back to full portions by second dinner.

We had a really sweet moment the other morning. It was between her breakfast and mine. And the room was finally cool enough that I was trying to enjoy a last hour of sleep. Well I must have woke between one sleep position and another and she caught wind of that. She walked right onto my chest and laid down nose to nose with me. Literally. She just kept giving me nose kisses. Then she just had to get up, turn around, and give me the other end. “Thanks Betty for making this awkward. I think I’ll pass this time.”

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty seems to be on the mend. It took her a bit after I plated her lunch before she would come down to it. I gave her a 2/3 portion. Of that, she ate half. I guess she also wanted to take it slow. I left to let her sort it out. I told myself she will probably finish her lunch before I finish mine. Sure enough, just as I finished mine, I checked on her on the camera and saw her finishing hers. Hopefully it all stays down and she can have a 4/5 or 5/6 dinner and be back to full portions by second dinner.

We had a really sweet moment the other morning. It was between her breakfast and mine. And the room was finally cool enough that I was trying to enjoy a last hour of sleep. Well I must have woke between one sleep position and another and she caught wind of that. She walked right onto my chest and laid down nose to nose with me. Literally. She just kept giving me nose kisses. Then she just had to get up, turn around, and give me the other end. “Thanks Betty for making this awkward. I think I’ll pass this time.”

Well, who promised you a rose garden?!! That's great that she seems to be back to normal.

Mr. Fluffy came in during TV time last night talking incessantly. Got in my face. Threw himself at me, like he does. We had a lot of snorgles and play with some toys on the bed. Still talkin' and still stampeding. I don't think my watching "The American Buffalo" had anything to do with it. I finally had to tell him loudly and repeatedly, "SETTLE DOWN, MR. FLUFFY!" That's the only way I can get him to do so.
This morning I was awakened at 5 by thunderbumpers. We often get the monsoon from Mexico in July/August, but it's not guaranteed. We didn't get much rain this time, but there was a lot of noise and a little lightning. *Oh well, I wasn't planning to sleep until the alarm went off at 7, anyway.*
Elvis has been coming in to wherever I am a bit more these days, in spite of the heat. Laptopping gets old quick because of the temperature, but I'm grateful for anything I can get.
Had a lot of fun cleaning floors and sinks and picking up the endless floofs in blue and black. Brushies and combies might as well not even happen, judging by the amount of these everywhere.

 

[daftcat75]

Doh! She did finish her lunch. And no new spits when I returned. Then as I was fixing dinner, she had a and followed it with a .

She seems better afterwards this time than last. I’m guessing all the spits made the a little harder to expel. I cut her dinner into 2/3 portion and I’m playing a hunch. Conventional wisdom suggests she should have more tummy rest. But she’s looking like it was a poop fluke. She doesn’t look worse for the wear like she did after breakfast spits.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Doh! She did finish her lunch. And no new spits when I returned. Then as I was fixing dinner, she had a and followed it with a .

She seems better afterwards this time than last. I’m guessing all the spits made the a little harder to expel. I cut her dinner into 2/3 portion and I’m playing a hunch. Conventional wisdom suggests she should have more tummy rest. But she’s looking like it was a poop fluke. She doesn’t look worse for the wear like she did after breakfast spits.

How is Betty this morning? Of course IDK but I'm thinking the heat may have something to do with it. We get more furballs during summer and I often feel less than great in hot weather *although I haven't yet had a furball*

 

[daftcat75]

How is Betty this morning? Of course IDK but I'm thinking the heat may have something to do with it. We get more furballs during summer and I often feel less than great in hot weather *although I haven't yet had a furball*

No doubt the heat played a part. It was odd and distressing that it tore her up for so long. But I'm happy to report that after her poop spits (spits after pooping not spitting poops), there were no further incidents. I think the heat and the earlier spits left her dehydrated that she had to push harder to poop and that caused her to bring up her lunch. She was acting differently like not as affected after the poop spits that I played a hunch and it worked out. She got a 2/3 portion for dinner that stayed down. She got 5/6 portion (25 out of 30 grams) for second dinner, and she got a full portion at breakfast.

For this week, I've stepped her A/D down another gram (4 grams out of a 32 gram serving) and I'm adding in Optagest digestive enzymes which seemed to help Krista a lot. And now that Betty is eating a firm pate, mixing in the digestive enzymes isn't going to turn a watery stew into something even more watery. Also Betty's been making a great start on her meals almost as quickly as I put them down meaning the enzymes won't be sitting around sogging up the plate.

Comcast is down again. It seemed like after last outage, a cable appeared above ground connecting one building to another. You can see this cable taped to the ground and cones over it in several places. It really looks like the biggest hack job ever. Well, last week GPRS was out marking things up. I presume they were there to help with identifying underground pipes and other obstacles. So perhaps this morning they are undergrounding that cable. But they don't communicate crap to us. So thankfully I have the mobile router and it's more than paid for itself. I'll just watch for all the camera notifications to know when home internet has returned.

 

[tarasgirl06]

No doubt the heat played a part. It was odd and distressing that it tore her up for so long. But I'm happy to report that after her poop spits (spits after pooping not spitting poops), there were no further incidents. I think the heat and the earlier spits left her dehydrated that she had to push harder to poop and that caused her to bring up her lunch. She was acting differently like not as affected after the poop spits that I played a hunch and it worked out. She got a 2/3 portion for dinner that stayed down. She got 5/6 portion (25 out of 30 grams) for second dinner, and she got a full portion at breakfast.

For this week, I've stepped her A/D down another gram (4 grams out of a 32 gram serving) and I'm adding in Optagest digestive enzymes which seemed to help Krista a lot. And now that Betty is eating a firm pate, mixing in the digestive enzymes isn't going to turn a watery stew into something even more watery. Also Betty's been making a great start on her meals almost as quickly as I put them down meaning the enzymes won't be sitting around sogging up the plate.

Comcast is down again. It seemed like after last outage, a cable appeared above ground connecting one building to another. You can see this cable taped to the ground and cones over it in several places. It really looks like the biggest hack job ever. Well, last week GPRS was out marking things up. I presume they were there to help with identifying underground pipes and other obstacles. So perhaps this morning they are undergrounding that cable. But they don't communicate crap to us. So thankfully I have the mobile router and it's more than paid for itself. I'll just watch for all the camera notifications to know when home internet has returned.

for Betty -- you're doing it right! Sounds like you've got a great strategy. Hoping it continues to prove you right.
These days, IT is much more of a problem than it is a pleasure. It's not supposed to be that way. But then, a lot of things going on these days aren't supposed to be that way. I'll just leave it at that.

 

[tarasgirl06]

So of course there was no interruption in your work today. How is Betty?

 

[daftcat75]

So of course there was no interruption in your work today. How is Betty?

Work sent out an email saying, "don't update your computer". Then a bit later they sent another that said, "okay you can resume updates. We've read the fine manual, and determined that we don't use Azure or Crowdstrike so we're good." No interruption in my work day. But my stock portfolio is another story. Tech's been out of favor for a week. I'll live. Earnings start up in another week or so and they'll be like, "Oh yeah! Now I remember why we keep buying them."

Betty's good. I was just thinking the other morning when she walked over me to get to her food, "now she's behaving like a cat's cat!"

Optagest seems to be agreeing with her. Too soon to say whether it will help with the hairballs. But the poops are getting stealthy. I still wouldn't want one anywhere but the box. But they aren't announcing themselves like they used to. And Betty's turning in clean plates. Except this morning. She ate a little less than half of second dinner when I plated it and never re-visited the plate before breakfast. Her dinner meds did bounce. I got some back when I shot my shot. So maybe that's what that was. But breakfast disappeared in short order and no spits. So we're good.

The heat is returning though....

 

[tarasgirl06]

Work sent out an email saying, "don't update your computer". Then a bit later they sent another that said, "okay you can resume updates. We've read the fine manual, and determined that we don't use Azure or Crowdstrike so we're good." No interruption in my work day. But my stock portfolio is another story. Tech's been out of favor for a week. I'll live. Earnings start up in another week or so and they'll be like, "Oh yeah! Now I remember why we keep buying them."

Betty's good. I was just thinking the other morning when she walked over me to get to her food, "now she's behaving like a cat's cat!"

Optagest seems to be agreeing with her. Too soon to say whether it will help with the hairballs. But the poops are getting stealthy. I still wouldn't want one anywhere but the box. But they aren't announcing themselves like they used to. And Betty's turning in clean plates. Except this morning. She ate a little less than half of second dinner when I plated it and never re-visited the plate before breakfast. Her dinner meds did bounce. I got some back when I shot my shot. So maybe that's what that was. But breakfast disappeared in short order and no spits. So we're good.

The heat is returning though....

Yeah, it's forecast to be in the mid-90sF all week here in la-la land. But this is tame compared to what's in store for us in August and September, if all goes according to the general routine.

Oh, I'm stunned. I had you figured for a MAC dev. Yeah, the stocks will come back and then some. They always do. Of course it's always good to have a diverse portfolio. But then I'm sure you know that, and do.

Good job, Betty! Keep up the good work! Mr. Fluff delivered another massive furball yesterday. I've lost count of how many that makes in going on a month and a half. He's never the worse for wear, doesn't ever announce them, and always thoughtfully leaves them in diverse places for me to discover. And so far, they've been on hard, easily cleanable surfaces Brushies are appreciated, frequent, and prolonged. But anyway. He and I are having a difference of opinion over his catapulting on and off the dinning room table. He goes at it like a juggernaut, and actually knocked over one of the dining room chairs in his quest for the high ground. Fortunately, no harm done, but I am determined to win this battle *as he also is.* Elvis seems to be benefiting from his combies and brushies,though. He's keeping to the countertops where it's nice and cool-ish. Of course he's not allowed up there.

 

[daftcat75]

I actually use Linux for most of my work. It's just that I also get a Win 10 laptop for MS Office and VPN to connect to those Linux machines. I've done it both ways: Linux laptop and Windows laptop. And even when I had a Linux laptop for work, I still ended up needing a Windows virtual machine (or some other virtualization, e.g. Wine, VNC, or Remote Desktop) to use the common "productivity" applications (e.g. Office.) Windows 10 isn't terrible. I've been using Windows since 3.1. There's still headaches, hair-pullers, and screamers of annoyances. But they've closed the gap. Win 10 and Ubuntu feel very similar for what I do on the daily.

I have several investment accounts. One's a leftover Roth that I can no longer contribute to because I make too much. One was a spillover account for cash dividends on my restricted stock units before I learned (only this year!) that you can reinvest dividends on restricted units. The bulk of my investments (prior 401k's) are under professional management through Empower. But I also have a couple of accounts (a rollover IRA and an individual) with Schwab. Empower keeps me diversified so that I can invest in what I know with Schwab. My Schwab accounts is where I have been accumulating Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, and Broadcom. I think Netflix and Meta are bordering on meme stocks. Except they are also good companies. However I have explicit instructions with Empower to never purchase a Musk-owned security for my accounts. Tesla is definitely a meme stock these days. Besides being an extremely disagreeable person, I don't think Musk is very stable. I think the board of directors needs to be drug testing him. His moral compass is definitely off. It bothers me a lot that he's behind self-driving cars and the future of space exploration. He didn't give a crap about Covid quarantine protocols and brought his workers back into the plant as quickly as he could even defying county orders to do so. I was so overjoyed when he took the Tesla plant to Texas. And now he's saying he'll do the same for SpaceX and Twitter and I say, "good riddance and I hope Gavin taxed you good on your way out. He was a real (rhymes with twitter) to the employees when he finally took over the deal he wanted to back out of, and forced much of the work-force out the door.

But yeah. I have people who keep me diversified so that I can keep buying the tech businesses that I'm familiar with. Whenever I have tried to diversify myself, I end up underperforming the index. And because even tech has its off weeks, I do keep some index funds in my Schwab accounts as well. I just signed up for Capitol Trades alerts because I want to know what the Pelosis are buying. Marjorie Taylor Greene purchased Crowdstrike last month. Ooops! She's down about 20% now. Serves her right! I don't think she's smart as much as trying to trade on insider information.

I actually miss having a cat on the countertop. Betty doesn't go up there anymore since she stopped the steroids. I don't know if it was the extreme hunger or more likely the anti-inflammatory relief that was driving that behavior. A little of both, I'm sure!

 

[tarasgirl06]

I actually use Linux for most of my work. It's just that I also get a Win 10 laptop for MS Office and VPN to connect to those Linux machines. I've done it both ways: Linux laptop and Windows laptop. And even when I had a Linux laptop for work, I still ended up needing a Windows virtual machine (or some other virtualization, e.g. Wine, VNC, or Remote Desktop) to use the common "productivity" applications (e.g. Office.) Windows 10 isn't terrible. I've been using Windows since 3.1. There's still headaches, hair-pullers, and screamers of annoyances. But they've closed the gap. Win 10 and Ubuntu feel very similar for what I do on the daily.

I have several investment accounts. One's a leftover Roth that I can no longer contribute to because I make too much. One was a spillover account for cash dividends on my restricted stock units before I learned (only this year!) that you can reinvest dividends on restricted units. The bulk of my investments (prior 401k's) are under professional management through Empower. But I also have a couple of accounts (a rollover IRA and an individual) with Schwab. Empower keeps me diversified so that I can invest in what I know with Schwab. My Schwab accounts is where I have been accumulating Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, and Broadcom. I think Netflix and Meta are bordering on meme stocks. Except they are also good companies. However I have explicit instructions with Empower to never purchase a Musk-owned security for my accounts. Tesla is definitely a meme stock these days. Besides being an extremely disagreeable person, I don't think Musk is very stable. I think the board of directors needs to be drug testing him. His moral compass is definitely off. It bothers me a lot that he's behind self-driving cars and the future of space exploration. He didn't give a crap about Covid quarantine protocols and brought his workers back into the plant as quickly as he could even defying county orders to do so. I was so overjoyed when he took the Tesla plant to Texas. And now he's saying he'll do the same for SpaceX and Twitter and I say, "good riddance and I hope Gavin taxed you good on your way out. He was a real (rhymes with twitter) to the employees when he finally took over the deal he wanted to back out of, and forced much of the work-force out the door.

But yeah. I have people who keep me diversified so that I can keep buying the tech businesses that I'm familiar with. Whenever I have tried to diversify myself, I end up underperforming the index. And because even tech has its off weeks, I do keep some index funds in my Schwab accounts as well. I just signed up for Capitol Trades alerts because I want to know what the Pelosis are buying. Marjorie Taylor Greene purchased Crowdstrike last month. Ooops! She's down about 20% now. Serves her right! I don't think she's smart as much as trying to trade on insider information.

I actually miss having a cat on the countertop. Betty doesn't go up there anymore since she stopped the steroids. I don't know if it was the extreme hunger or more likely the anti-inflammatory relief that was driving that behavior. A little of both, I'm sure!
View attachment 480833View attachment 480834

Funny how we mirror one another on that stuff. And yeah, Schwab is the place. My FA left another entity whose name shall not be repeated to go there and I applauded the move as I never felt "the other place" was a good fit.
As for the South African, we can't tell him to reconnect with his homeland, I guess...but TX is a good substitute, I hear. A lot of my relatives were there for at least 2 generations. A few of them, I hear, are still there, but most got out while the gittin' was good. *Nice to know great minds think alike on the subject of space exploration, not to mention those cars, which belong in Disneyland/World.* He seems to be intent on populating the planet, or whatever planet(s) he decides to own next, with his darling issue. As a lifelong ZPGer, I resent that. Especially since yes, instability seems to be running rampant.
My Countertop King is doing a little laptop duty at the moment, with purrs. He issued forth from the shower this morning, and jumped on the bathroom countertop, where he has trained me to bestow combies and brushies first thing.

 

[daftcat75]

I came to Schwab through the TD Ameritrade acquisition. I’m not sure what I think of Schwab yet other than they have kept the strengths of TD Ameritrade including the ThinkOrSwim software, the educational resources, and the YouTube channels. I just enjoy third sleep too much right now. But one of these years, I’d like to use those hours to trade futures. Not on Schwab because their margin requirements are too high. But I’d still use their TOS software for charting and maybe Ninja to execute orders. I would also like to learn how to use other people’s money to buy rental properties and have the tenants pay off the loan/mortgage while providing additional cash flow. But that’s a whole other skill and swath of time that I’m not sure where to find it yet. I’m doing just fine for a rat race retirement in my 60’s. But wouldn’t it be nice if I could build up the assets column and get there sooner? I’d like to retire with enough health left to enjoy it and enough money not to worry about it. It would be fun to have options. Like seeing Taylor Swift in Europe because ticket prices are too stupid in the US. Swifties have been able to do an entire European vacation with Eras Tour tickets for cheaper than what US tickets alone have been selling for. If I had “fluff you” money, Betty would be traveling with me on our private jet. I’d let her fly some of the way. And she’d get the 22 hat at one of the shows.

 

[daftcat75]

Stable: 9.6

 

[tarasgirl06]

Stable: 9.6
View attachment 480925View attachment 480926

Yeah, Betty!!! Looking good!
My financial experience is 180 degrees different than yours, with predictable results. I'm okay being very careful, and my FA, who's like family and was my family's FA, deals with the nuts and bolts. But if you do what you set your goal to do, that would be incredible! *Can you picture Betty meeting and mingling with Olivia, Meredith and Benjamin while you schmooz with Taylor?
I have friends who do the rental thing. They have management corporations dealing with them. The problem, though, as I see it, is that many if not most tenants do not respect rental property the way they would their own. And the nightmares that can spring from that are something I'd never be prepared to accept. Plus, having been a renter for a good part of my adult life, and seeing it from that side, I'm not comfortable with being someone's landlord. It made me uncomfortable just to deal with the roomies/houseguests thing, because he kept calling me their landlord and I did not want to accept that title. *Not wanting to rain on your parade if that's part of your plan, but it's just something to consider if you haven't, because it happens far too often and no matter what kind of padding you have in the rent to cover repairs and such, it's bound to be a major stressor.*

 

[daftcat75]

Yeah, Betty!!! Looking good!
My financial experience is 180 degrees different than yours, with predictable results. I'm okay being very careful, and my FA, who's like family and was my family's FA, deals with the nuts and bolts. But if you do what you set your goal to do, that would be incredible! *Can you picture Betty meeting and mingling with Olivia, Meredith and Benjamin while you schmooz with Taylor?
I have friends who do the rental thing. They have management corporations dealing with them. The problem, though, as I see it, is that many if not most tenants do not respect rental property the way they would their own. And the nightmares that can spring from that are something I'd never be prepared to accept. Plus, having been a renter for a good part of my adult life, and seeing it from that side, I'm not comfortable with being someone's landlord. It made me uncomfortable just to deal with the roomies/houseguests thing, because he kept calling me their landlord and I did not want to accept that title. *Not wanting to rain on your parade if that's part of your plan, but it's just something to consider if you haven't, because it happens far too often and no matter what kind of padding you have in the rent to cover repairs and such, it's bound to be a major stressor.*

Yeah. I don’t want to be a landlord either. Even by proxy. I’d rather learn futures trading. Because the little bit of options trading I’ve done is exciting if I can get a profitable system working. It’s nice being able to sit down and generate profit almost out of thin air. But it’s also easy to blow out an account with leverage. So for now, I’m trying to build up the account so that it can have a little trading budget and not blow itself up. And in the meantime, I’m trying to learn my system using paper money.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yeah. I don’t want to be a landlord either. Even by proxy. I’d rather learn futures trading. Because the little bit of options trading I’ve done is exciting if I can get a profitable system working. It’s nice being able to sit down and generate profit almost out of thin air. But it’s also easy to blow out an account with leverage. So for now, I’m trying to build up the account so that it can have a little trading budget and not blow itself up. And in the meantime, I’m trying to learn my system using paper money.

All success to you!
Biden has just dropped out.

 

[daftcat75]

Gabapentin refill called in: check.
Ondansetron refill submitted to Walgreens: check.
Betty's six month appointment: check. It's next month. So I guess it's a seven month appointment now.

I'm so relieved that Biden is out. He's done a great job. But he has seriously lost a step and is constantly on defense now--and not doing a great job of it. We need someone with energy who can play some offense. Now the Dems need to do the right thing and rally around Harris rather than trying to undermine her and give the nomination to someone else.