NIGHT OWLS ONLY - OPEN: 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. (2nd Call)

Oh my gosh Anna! Do you realize this thread was started by a lawyer and her SO is 'Court'?

The only reason I am here is my name is Sue.

But Your Honor !!! I can't wait till the midnight hour !!! ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪♪♪

LOL^_^

Lawyer-shmoyer...............you don't scare me! I have a husband and 3 sons that are all bigger than me..............and I can deal with ANYTHING!!!! If I wouldn't have stood up to them they would have eaten me alive.

JUdge Ju will decide after midnight because that is when we're gonna found out what it is all about (singing)...

Judge Who ??? LOL
Truthfully , It's because :
Nobody knows ^_^

You guys are silly.

In TH first post it says "hissing is allowed but only by me." Have you ever been in a quiet room (think auditorium) and heard an adult "hiss" in a show of disapproval?

I was just out of college, graduated with 5,600 others so I thought I'd seen it all by then. I could not believe my eyes/ears when in my first year of law school I witnessed this rudeness. Like a cat/goose/snake! Hissing. Good grief.

I am going back to sleep now. You are all just jealous because I can. :p

xox

Good morning all. I am off to the doctor for one of them sleep test. I had to complete a 12 page questionnaire and that is what will be discussed and the sleepover to follow. I hope the staff will be able to visit 2-5 am.

Have a good day!

It's 5am and I'm up watching the progress of Tropical Storm Lorena which is headed straight towards us. We've had the edges of two hurricanes in the last couple of weeks. Got lots of rain but no wind to speak of. Looks like we might get hit solidly by Lorena. Dang.

I'm hoping to head north next week to confront my retirement board at their monthly meeting in Oakland, ca. they don't like it when I come to see them but I don't like it when a worker abuses me by blaming me for her poor job performance. A lot of my insomnia has to do with ruminating over 27 years of problems with these people. Retirement board and retirement association employees. The names have changed; the problems are ongoing and unchanging. Board members don't hiss when I talk but they might as well. A couple of them look like they are napping.

A good friend that I haven't seen in several years lives in San Francisco and I'm hoping we can get together.

It's hot and humid. I'm so depressed from the endless problems with the retirement people that I have no energy to do anything. I have spells of weeping; I am so angry and frustrated.

Their latest screw-up: IRSsent me aa bill for my non-taxable income. I wrote to the retirement association asking for a statement to send to the IRS. No response until I wrote to a board member two months later. Then I got a whiney letter from an overpaid (with her, any pay is overpay) "management" person complaining about all the mail they get. Don't many companies start new employees in the mail room?

Rant, rant. Beats weeping.

katie

Reading, wondering' as always ,
Almost posted at 3;11 am yesterday, couldn't see the board , lol
oh well , in a while ..

Katie. I hear you. I retired finally this year because I had it up to my ears with nitwits and phonies and grandstanding and pompous "scared to be discovered as talentless" asses. I loved my job and at my retirement lunch a lung doctor I never met in person (treated a lot of his patients) came by and asked me to come work at his clinic and a few others emailed for same reasons - PROMISING a shield from politics and bull_hit if I joined their clinic. (They overestimate their reach and their power to 'shield and avoid') I can feel the ole BP rise just typing this. At retirement they screwed up my 401 contribution of PTO time and that had HUGE tax implication that took 2 full mo to fix AND the accountant was more interested in WHO screwed up because SHE was inconvenienced n- at first she told me the distribution was made and 'sorry, oh well, tough break....' Then I howled like hell and threatened all sorts of 'airing public' complaints sort of stuff ... Now, 5 months later EVERY single month at the end of the month since retirement my prescription drug coverage gets cancelled. EVERY single month like clockwork mail order pharm confirms the cancellation. Also, medical reimbursement coverage denied -- because they filed as 'second' to Medicare (I am too young for Medicare) On and On....and On ...hundreds of folks retire from this "world class" HEALTH system (almost every year there was a question we had to answer asking staff about the value gained in working for world class system -- I think maybe they thought it replaced pay and benefit increases ) --- think they'd have it down by now with all the highly paid HR folks overseeing the retirement paperwork... I go on...it is the hour ..... What I wanted to say is don't waste one more drop of energy on them because they don't waste any on you and even if they did -- it would not make you any happier. Stress sets up all kinds of bad inflammatory issues in the body which impact everything - disease and all sorts of processes- as does insomnia. Do you know the one thing consistent with fibromyalgia sufferers ? No sleep / poor seep....it precedes it.

Hey you guys better stop breaking the rules.

Guess all are snoozing away -- good for you.

I got a dead mouse that turned to juice in my truck. I don't know what else to do....tried everything. Yesterday completely across the property... I was downwind from it... No food ever in that truck -- it ate my registration...got in behind the glove compartment..... Died on the RUG ..
I have tried EVERYTHING. The odor of the mouse and my various cleaning potions is gagging me...

O wow!

Katie you have stirred Rosie' s hornet nest. And she's right. I meant to send you a dmail that day. You know that your retirement income is not taxable. It will be a PITA to fix it, but you know it will work out. I am admitted to the US Tax Court. I just loved that. Hahaha. Anyway. It's easy if you have o go that far, but you won't. I hope only for you that they haven't stripped your bank accounts overnight with some crap ex parte attachment. Can they do that across the border? Sheesh. Another not so secret: My mom never forgave me for (1) not moving back to PA so I could (2) sue the IRS for her, I have no idea why. Who would imagine that having a law license would put such a strain on family relationships!!

Sigh.

And Rosie, that does truly sound like something that would make my blood boil. We are doing our best here to follow some kind of "anti-inflammatory diet" to live better. I don't know how I will survive when I have to go back to the workforce. Deep breaths. Maybe a fast acting benzo? :D


Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. Ironic then that gazing out the window this morning at a dogwood in the neighbor's yard caused something akin to fear. It's only the first week of September and its leaves are turning red, getting ready to drop.

I thought when I started learning about climate change that things like melting ice caps and holes in the ozone were changes that would never impact me directly. But I'm seeing it out my window. And no monarch butterflies. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, u I must say I'm pretty creeped out.

To cheer myself I watched a movie on hulu just now "get shorty" with John Travolta, gene hackman, Danny devito, Renee Russo, and cameo appearances by a dozen or so top notch actors. It was fun. I'm not scared. But maybe I'll sleep with the light on.

Where's rockette? Need to know how the sleep test went over.

Who's up?

This message was edited Sep 9, 2013 12:22 AM

Yup, I got stirred up. Was it Michael Douglas that went nuts in a hamburger joint when his character reached his limit? That's how I felt and it sounds like how Katie feels. It is like Atlas Shrugged circa 2013.

YES - the weather has been gorgeous. Perfect. Unlike your end of town Amanda, the monarchs and other types of powdered winged creatures are so thick that I have to drive slow to avoid hitting them. From my early morning coffee perch, I see them caught and struggling in equally abundant spider webs. I am so tired of running outdoors in my night garb ("get up" a better descriptor) with my rigged up taped sticks (mops) trying to knock down the web and not concuss the butterfly. It is not easy because the snakes are always lurking and I fear the mosquitos may invade the nether regions causing me great great grief.

Ha Ha Amanda - it is as if your dear mom raised up a priest and learned she wasn't a shoe-in thru the pearly gates! Ingrate! Bad Daughter!

Scary is what happened to my birch tree - my main garden 'bone' -- I too thought "Hmmmmm early fall"......and then I saw all the dirt on the flagstones the following week ...."hmmmm didn't we just blow those off?" Then few days ago I noticed that the tree was BARE - but where the heck were the leaves?? I saw no leaves on the ground.....then from the window I saw little brown bits raining off the tree....was it a bird? Squirrel? SNAKE?? (all this taking place over maybe two weeks) I went outside to inspect and that rain fell on my head-- caterpillars!!! Rotten little buggers - devastated that birch. Is it gone?

This message was edited Sep 10, 2013 12:53 AM

I REMEMBER ; Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down .

As for everything ' first is little green caterpillars
Second is eight legs Oh Boy !!!
third Today's visitor .


I miss things ...

Well, here am I. The "can't get to sleep" thing has reared its ugly head. Grrrr.............guess I will hit the futon and turn the floor fan on pointing at me. I love the breeze on my face.

I decided I was going to use the rest of my inheritance $$ from my uncle for more continuation of my (good) health............I ordered a Vita Mix off of Amazon tonight. Hmmm........maybe that's why I can't get to sleep?? Buyers guilt??? :>) Someone gave me a cheap juicer...........it didn't do what I wanted it to and I told her I was going to send it back to her. She said no, keep it, give it away. She didn't want it back as it didn't do what SHE expected it to do either. I looked it up to see the price and it was about $35.00, so I guess I couldn't expect much for that. And a Vita Mix will totally macerate anything you put in it, so I "should" be all set.

Tomorrow evening (or is it tonight, since it's after midnight here???)........ok, Tuesday evening I am going to Rockford, Illinois, to the bus depot to pick my sister up. She is coming for 2 weeks for a visit and is taking the bus from O'Hare to Rockford (a little over an hour ride for her). She lives in France. I said to my mom "I am not asking anyone to ride along............not my hubby, and not you either, since she will be staying with you". I said it might be my only chance to have her "all to myself". She is the one next to me in the sibling hierarchy. I am the oldest.

Time for a swig of ice water and I'll see if I can find the sleepies.

Enjoy your sister Anna. Sisters are special.

What things Ju?

I got photos too - but there ain't nobody to sue!

Can you see the bugs on the leaf edges?

And here is the now-naked tree. And a photo of it in its 'used to be' - not a great example but the best I can do at 2:45 am...it is the double trunked paperbark. I have no idea why the photo side loaded

There were photos of those bugs but disappeared!! I SAW them load

Here goes another try

Ju, I just found one of those spiders on the deck. Do you know what kind it is? I've been trying to find out. They're very pretty, IMHO. And now kitty is checking out a textile I brought back from Costa Rica and headed for two boxes of plants I received from DGers. His curiosity never ends. Better go head him off.

Have a good week, ya'll.

Good morning night owls.

I'm impressed with all the bug pictures! Good grief Rosie I'm not sure I've seen anything like your beech tree. I'm sure the tree is fine. Wonder if at this time of year it will develop new foliage or wait till spring? Leaves are beginning to fall here anyway.

Carole, love the writing spiders. Haven't had one in the garden this year. I can't trust them in my butterfly/pollinator garden anyway.

I'm enjoying the mild weather. Goin g to get pretty busy here with school so I hope I'll be sleeping most nights. Counting on Ju to provide song and dance for our entertainment.

Taking my dog for. blood tests in the daylight hours to see how her kidneys are doing. I'm optimistic. She is so alive compared to the sudden onset a couple of months ago. I'm convince that it was the Frontline flea medication. Will keep you informed.

Hope you are all getting some Zs.

Hi everyone! I'm up, can't sleep, wondering what in the world am I doing up at 4:30am CDT?????

Carole that is a female writing spider, they can't hurt you, their fangs aren't strong enough to break human skin. They are awesome in the garden, gets all the bad guys out.

I have a praying mantis and a baby toad, I'm hoping the toad doesn't eat the mantis! LOL

Ok, I'm going to try to go back to sleep, maybe here in the recliner, hhhmmmmmm

Hi Crissy -- Thanks for the info. Charming little spiders, I'd say. I usually have mantids but not sure I've seen any but babies this year. Perhaps one adult. Maybe too many toads. lol. Good night, sleep well.

I started to answer but was out of time , Yes that's a garden spider , banana spider , that little cross weave line they make in their web makes them easy to ID .
I have a much meaner looking one in my garden now , the birds or something ate the garden spider .

Oh I miss things posted earlier and it takes me a while to catch up to some of the conversations , All kinds of things are like that , good morning , Night Owls , ..

Well I would ask where everybody went ,, lullaby ,, and good night , the sun , soon will be shining..

Hi crissyr. :)

I have thought about trying the recliner. How did it work for you? Only thing here is that would expose me to cats who want to sleep on my head. Main part of my sleep problem. :)

It's a lovely morning. Just not sure I've had enough sleep to stay up to meet the sun . Four hours can't be enough. At least, that's what I've read, tho' I used to think 6 hours was as much as I could do in one stretch.

Do they mean 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep? I wonder what that's like. Lately 3 solid hours is pretty good for me.

Ju, what are your thoughts on the matter?

I could make a cup of Tazo tea with valerian root. It works for my BF. But there would still be the matter of cats trying to sleep on my head.

We only have four (*only*) and two of them are seniors, two are just over a year. The seniors are the ones that are needy/demanding. They tried too hard to be like dogs I think. I had four dogs when I raised these two. Any who.

What else? School, car repairs, fish tank, plants, hawk in the backyard yesterday, mayhem, etc. That sums up my day.

Have a good day everyone. See you tomorrow.

This message was edited Sep 12, 2013 4:51 AM

Hi everyone
I have seen that spider shape here but not sure same coloring. Can I assume that particular body profile has soft fangs?

Year ago - there was a new miracle drug for canine arthritis - Rimidyl - not sure of spelling. The Vet put our Raggs on it. Within 6 weeks or so - she was different and I thought she was in failure ( heart) . Our vet not in but we saw another and an x-ray obtained. That vet said all was well ( but even the x-ray looked like failure to me.) Every person I knew with an elderly dog got that medication (the vet drug rep must have been a hard worker or the $$ made on the drug must have been an all time incentive) anyway-- Raggs definitely was moving better but she was short of breath and wheezing. I took her off it. YEARS later - I learned so many dogs in CHF from that drug because the dosage was set waaaaay too high. That being said - I kept saying to the cardiologists that the patients I had that were taking Celebrex seemed to be having issues with fluid retention and shortness of breath and did they notice that....?? No ..not noticed.... Sure enough years later....and after much untoward effects ... I don't even think it is prescribed. So Amanda trust your instincts.

You all familiar with Neko Case? What a pure voice..,I just love her music. Could listen all day. Started off as punk but -wow- she blossomed into quite a great versatile artist. My dream duo in concert. Neko and Chris Rea.
It'll never happen but I can dream...which is what I am going to try to do right now. Buona Notte!

Ps. Here is today's bug (s ). Sometimes you're the windshield --sometimes you're the bug! Guess which is which?

This message was edited Sep 13, 2013 12:05 AM

I know I blew up that photo....

That's the one I have in my garden now , right down to the leaf to hide in if it gets to hot , that is what the one in my garden does now . hides in the leaf when the sun shines on it .
Has a brown - brownish red tone body , house spider type body , ringed leg coloring half darker near the body lighter towards the half of the end of the legs ,
White spot on back between abdomen and head , cross sectioning of double hour glass on abdomen (-belly side )
All indicators of the Widow family , if that describes it , if it does , beware of this fellow , probably wouldn't do much but run from you anyway . only still , things happen ..

Basically a two tone hour glass on the belly side of it's abdomen , it's not the garden spider or banana spider , like in previous posts

COMMON names , leaf roller , wood spider , tree spider, tree widow. brown porch spider , I don't know it's real name though

This message was edited Sep 13, 2013 12:27 AM

I thought this was harmless orb weaver. Got TONS hanging off eaves. Never harm them. That isn't a leaf Ju - that is a praying mantis (aka dinner) A short meal.

Well then that is probably what it is , I just don't trust anything with abdomen hour glasses , and there are bunches of spiders that are harmless that have them.
Brown and black widows I have seen many of both , most of them about a third that size even when mature .. (the true widows )

Only I Don't like spiders and snakes ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪

Music Maestro ,, you know ,, lol

Aw geeez. Afraid of a little bug, Ju? We have that same spider on the front porch. Web is art least 3' wide. Crazy, creepy. Even though spiders aren't allowed in my butterfly garden, this guy (because he operate at night?)(another night owl?) Gets to stay. We looked him up, years ago. Harmless.

Well. Just back from stroll around the block with snoopy. I told the vet tech not to chase me by phone about the dog's blood panels unless there was something to worry about. No call. I guess thAt's okay. I guess I will have to call just for curiosity's sake.

Had hoped not o be up/stay up at this hour but have a couple of things that have to be done. Last night's overnight overtime caused me to oversleep. Ack.

O. Rosie. I know about Rimadyl. It's been on the s/hit list for a long time. My old Lhasa over did it one day playing with a friend's puppy. I thought she blew out her hip so we went to the emergency vet. X-rays showed arthritis only. We wet home with a bottle of rimadyl. Like cortisone shots, steroids, etc., I know even though harmful over time, sometimes for acute conditions it might be the only thing that helps.

Fortunately rest and aspirin and some homeopathic remedies for pain got us thru that. I still have the bottle of Rim in reserve. The scrip was written in 2008. I found a lady in the Bronx who does homeopathy for pets. I've learned a lot from her over TH years. Whenever I ask her about a drug she says, "that _____ kills cats!" Or dogs. Whichever. I've treated my goldfish, cats, dogs, birds. Amazing really. Works for people too. ;)

Phew.

87% humidity out there. It's no joke. Snoopy's a goof. She wants to keep walking. I know I will have to carry her part of the way home, but it beats a lethargic dog any day.

Book work tomorrow. Interviewing candidates for my graduate committee. Stretch, yawn. ;)

Later.

hey Amanda . cool here like 50 degrees , little humidity ..

Woof Woof , pant , pant , woof , woof woof , pant. woof, woof,, woof woof ,pant pant pant
Translation . carry me home mommy .. I'm tired now ,please mommy ,, pretty please ...

And That Ain't What It Takes ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪ to love me ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪
Go Snoopy

HahaHaha.

I am up because the SU is snorting and snoring like the Burlinton Northern. Plus, I am sweating and nooooooo, we canNOT turn on the fan. Why, HE might get a breeze. I hope he gets what I have been dealing with for the past 15 years.... Even a week would do him good!

Anna - I get the breeze complaint too. Better a breeze than a slap is what I tell him.... If mamma ain't happy ain't nobody happy! Now I think he likes the breeze - he just needed incentive.

I have read / seen TV about those "cool" pillows...anybody try??

Amanda you are so luckt to have a living ' free weight ' while walking - great exercise - your bicepts must be F A B U L O U S girl!

Ju - I don't know how to make musical notes. Will you tell me? Sometimes I would like to say happy birthday to the grands with a song that is more than in my heart.

I am trying to do some ceu work (education) to keep my license to practice - wee hours would seem good time --- but brain slow and can't fail the online test.

missingrosie , Go to "system tools" then to "character map" there will be notes and symbols all kinds of things there , just use the copy prompt ,
Good morning , good morning ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪
A good breakfast ♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪ for you♪♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪

On an IPAD where do I find system tools? Or can I?

Hmmm. He is definitely talking PC there Rosie. When I use a Mac, they had the most outrageous fonts. If you open the document program (what's it called these days?) ,select your character font (?) In Windows it's called "wingdings" ... type them out there and then copy and paste into DG text box.

Sounds like that is sort of what Ju is doing. I can't do it on m Kindle because I don't have a text/document writing program. Or do I? Only for reading. I think. It is a PITA, but Ju must have the patience of JOB.

more good news! Vet said dog's blood levels are almost back to normal. For instance the BUN at the onset was 103. It's down to 34. I think "normal" is 31. He read some more numbers off the results by phone but I didn't have my copy. Said we could test again in a month or two to see if there was any permanent damage. Just don't understand really the "kidney disease" diagnosis vs the kidney failure moniker vs an acute condition caused by poisoining (Frontline Plus). Doesn't much matter I guess. She can now live happily into her 20s. :D

Got some new flannel sheets and a new squishy microfleece binkie via Overstock.com. My treat to myself on reclaiming my bedroom from the allergy cat. Oh another too long damn explanation. Don't ask except that I haven't done much sleeping in this bed since ... when did I start this thread? Hahah. You are saying, "good God. I want the fan on for a slight breeze and she's already in flannel and microfleece." Not ashamed to tell that we have 2 separate beds. Waaaay back when I invited my guy to move in I gave him his own room. Everybody should have their own space, no? I told him,just don't try to sleep with me. At the time I had three dogs and four (?) Cats all vying for a spot on the bed. I'm not one of those who will give away my stuff for some dude. I used to imagine a king sized bed would be bliss. I have a queen. Haha. Anyway we have very different sleep habits (he like a solid ten hours)(ha!) . Good news is that I've encourAged an appreciation for cold weather sleeping. AND I have a ceiling fan in my room. Ahhh, now that's bliss. Squishy flannel and microfleece. Of course it helps that it's 65 deg. out there. Would never try this mid-summer. Anyway.

Anna. You have my sympathies girl, but 15 years without a breeze is way too long. You must really love the dude.

Well I will think of you out there. I think it's important for everyone's health to get as much sleep as you can. Considering we are night owls and all. I've been reading more and more how this or that condition is linked to sleep deprivation. Look at Ju, for instance. :D

Going back to the squish, personally. Just Snoopy and me.
xox