noxcat | Entries tagged with austin

The Air Force Thungerbirds (?) just flew over this part of Austin. I deliberately live minutes away from a Hospital and medical center since I spend so much time needing medical attention. It's nice that during the Pandemic so many are going out of their way to Thank the people doing the heavy lifting now. This is in no way a war. It's a plague, and the military can't really do anything during plague.

If only we were more appreciative of our healthcare workers more often...

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The Governor issued an Executive Order to start re-opeing the state before the end of May, but the city and county extended thier stay at home order. Dumb Governor, smart city. The city can't supercede the Order, but it can strongly suggest people do the Smart thing. The State AG has already sent a letter to Austin warning them of this. Politics as usual in Texas. The state doesn't want to be "bullied" by the Federal Government, but they have no problem turning around and Bullying the smaller governments. It's been this way since literally the beginning of the state.

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Finally got all the plants repotted, and the cat grass is sprouting. It took it less than 7 days to poke through the soil - I was a little surprised at the quick germination. Livia has already mown it once, so it's a much bigger hit than the catnip was! The cactus is showing new growth too.

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Still drifting. I don't have any idea when the new laptop wil arrive, then I'm not sure exactly how I'll get it set up for my needs. So yay for not having a clue about when I can get on with my life...

The City of Austin has extended the Stay at Home order until May 8 now, and the number of cases of COVID!( is still slowly climbing, although it's still under 1000. And the death toll is still low, although that is slowly climbing too - it's mow over 10 for the county.

But I am starting to feel the feeling of being trapped in a cage. I'm sure it's nothing like what it feels like to be in a prison cell since I have so many luxuries like Internet, TV, and all my own things around me, but still the feeling of not being allowed to go out is ever present.

And my one visitor allowed thing is getting old. Much as I love him, I have known he isn't able to satisfy my need for mental stimulation and social interaction, and nor should he be. A partner should not be one's everything n life. And I've always felt it's wrong to expect one to satisfy one's every need.

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I've been spending a little extra time on the bike to try and manage the increased anxiety levels, as well as trying to counteract the anxiety snacking. So far it seems to be working, but I still need to get my emotional (and boredom) eating under a little better control. Especially now. I've managed to get myself to snack on more vegetables than "snack bars", but the current supply chain issues mean it's kind of hit or miss on getting my favorite frozen veggies. Love me some sugar snap peas, doncha know. But they are getting hard to find.

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And I haven't gotten a Stimulus "check" yet. Not sure how that's going to happen. But I'm feally hoping it'll come sooner rather than later because the Greater TX Food Bank has been really vocal about needing to feed more people lately, and I want to throw some money at them. People need to eat.

(wow. My computer worked well enough I could enter all this with only the most minor difficulty!)

Today has been pretty much a total waste of a day. My stomach's been hurting on and off all dy (yay anxiety!), and while the weather is really nice, the wind keeps gusting enough that it would be difficult to actually do anything on the balcony. And all the City parks are closed anyay in an effort to stop people from gathering and stop the spread of "The Virus". We'll know in the next three weeks how that went.

The number of cases here is over 700, but the death count hasn't changed - still only 9.

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I'm still nursing a dying computer. At this point, I'm hoping I'll get a stinulus check, and if I do, I know what about half of mine will be going towards.Just gotta keep this one limping along a couple more days...

The latest COVID-19 count for Travis Co., TX is 690 cases with 9 deaths. The Mayor's decision to cancel SXSW really was the right decision - we could so easilt have been another New Orleans if he hadn't.

But people here aren't abiding by the Social Distancing guidelines the way they should. The local park trails aren't always 6 feet wide to begin with, and people are on them walking side by side as they pass groups walking side by side in the other direction as if simply being outside will protect them from contracting the virus. It doesn't. The City has actually closed the parks for this holiday weekend, and some people are ignoring that and gathering there anyway.

So I won't be going back out anytime soon...hell, if I order something online it has to sit out on my balcony for a day or 2 before I tough it - just in case. (Fortunately the balcony is almost always shaded, so nothing's been damaged by the sun or heat (so far).

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Still can't seem to focus on any one thing for any length of time, and I'm tired of vaccuuming since it's a waste of time. It may make the place LOOK cleaner, but it's not really any cleaner. What I wouldn't give to take some of it up and replace it with hard floors and washable rugs. But that's not possible in a Rental unit.

And sometimes I feel like I'm the only one trying to step up the hygiene level - like Himself has no desire to see the place get better, and is actively trying to sabotage my efforts. But I think that's just the stir crazy-ness talking, and I won't feel that once we aren't so shut in together. (But I do wish his attempts to "brighten my day" were a little more well thought out.)

I called the doctor's office Friday,and the phone nurse basically told me to kick Himself and the cats ou indefinitely. Uhm, no. Among other things, like emotional support, who would put my daily prescription eye drops in if he's not here to do it? Also, because of my vision, or lask of, I can no longe "brown" ground meat totally, and have found that out the hard way a couple times in the past. (Ugh)

But we are ramping up our efforts. We're disincecting knobs and switches and handles at least once a day, and I'm washing my hands so often I'm gonna put a second towel by the sink so I can have a DRY towel to dry my hands with. Having only one that never gets time to dry between uses is defeating the purpose of the soap.

And I do have a to-do list for this extended home stay. So far, I've vacuumed TWICE, and done some extra laundry. But it won't all be hausfrau stuff - there's a pile of movies to be watched, or re-watched so we can see if we want to keep or toss them. There are a couple plants on the patio that are due for their spring overhaul, and projects to be worked on.

Austin/Travis County is still under 100 cases of COVID-19, and Texas has had a total of only 5 deaths, as of my last check. There is a theory that COVID-19 might be less of a problem as we come into the warmer months - maybe being in the subtropics is why it doesn't seem to be as horrible down here. But it'a way too soon to do anything other than speculats, so don't quote me. :)

aThanks to University of Texas president Greg Fenvez, who took people on a trip to NYC knowing it was more of a COVID-19 hotspot than Austin was, the first confirmed positive case was found in Austin - his wife. Since than as of last night, we have
19 cases in the county that we know about.

This all happened last weekend. And while I was already limiting my time in public and using hand sanitizer more often, I was still noticing people not being as
careful as I was. So now that we know it's here, I'm going to just become as much
of a hermit as I can for a while.

It'll probably drive me crazy, especially while I'm still stuck with the old, dying laptop, but whatever it takes to stay healthy...

I've got an appointment this afternoon with my eye Doc - noticed what I thought was a bug on the floor, and watched it move across said floor while the cat ignored it completely on Thursday morning. Figured out by that evning it was a new shadow in my vision as well as a new floater going by too. Called the Doc's office about half an hour before the phone message said they closed (since it was Friday), and got a call back after said message said was the end of their day - "We can get you in Monday."

Oh, Uhhh..guess it could be potentially serious, then. "We won't know anything until we take a look."

And then I didn't notice it at all on Saturday or Sunday. But it is about that time for my yearly eye exam, so...

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There was one woman outside with a bullhorn protesting...well, I'm not sure exactly what she was protesting. She was saying things like "shame on the city for hosting this on PEARL HARBOR DAYm when our soldiers fought and died for America, for freedom." WTF, you ignorant Islamophobe? Do you even understand the concept pf Freedom of Religion is all about? As a fellow WASP, I was ashamed by her behavior, and I even told a couple of people listening to her (and laughing a bit) that she had it ALL WRONG.

And PETA had a table there manned by kool-aid drinking vegans. Apparently they equate the Islamic community with little old ladies wearing furrs, and not with leathe clad bikers. And yes, I have a hate-on for Peta. I really dislike the lunatic fringe of any movement that has been documented doing things that go against their stated goals.

But Sunday was much less agitating, and much more plain and simple fun. Himself thought (incorrectly) that we had enough cat food to last until Wednesday, when he got paid again. (That prescription food we have Harry the Diabeticat on ain't cheap!) I gently tried to tell him he was wrong by saying things like "you need to double check, because I'm not sure we do", but he insisted. So I finally said bluntly "We need to go get more food since we're almost out and I need to go to the store this morning to buy it." So we did. *sigh*

Then we picked up Linda and went to the Blue genie Christmas Bazaar and did some Giftmas shopping and caught up with each other. It was busy - but it was Sunday afternoon. LOL And we did manage to ge things for other people! But we were both lamenting the urge to but for ourselves - it can be so strong at places like Blue Genie, where the offerings are so unusual and unique.

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So today is my eye exam, and Wednesday is a visit to my cancer surgeon regarding the scar on my head from my first skin cancer removal.Don't know if it's simply to discuss scar revision, or if she'll actually do the revision when I'm there. I'd really like to do it nd be done with it - but that's her decision to make. *sigh*

https://odditiesandcuriositiesexpo.com/

We were there yesterday. I described it to Himself before we went as "Remember the X-Files episode with the Jim Rose circus? It's gonna be like that.' Heh. There were people there suspending themselves from wires by inserting hooks into the skin of their shoulders or back. Yes Indeed. Ripley's believe it or not had an exhibit there too - the the brought a couple of things: the world's biggest ball of human hair, and a display of th world's tallest man. (couldn't tell if it was actually him or just a representation since it had clothes on). Someone was actually selling a verified religious relic, and also a vintage embalmer's kit. (that whole condept makes me shudder in horror.) I saw a lot of animal furrs and hides, which just made me a little sad, bone jewelry which didn't bother me, and other such things.

One vendor had a necklace of rattlesnake vertebrae and black cord that was very well done, but I passed on it.

However, I am thinking about hitting up Hauntwell.com for a shirt once I'm a little more certain of my financial situation.

Being next to Louisiana, there were things for sale in the voodoo persuation.

No tattoing or piercing artists were working there, though. Pity. I had wanted to talk to one about the inks used - making sure the needles are safe and sterile is no big deal, but the inks can get recalled, so that might end being the reason I never get a tat. I certainly felt like I should have been to part of that crowd - visible ink on almost everyone! Not a lot of visible body modification, or scarrification, though.

I loved it, but I came away feeling like my appearance was entirely too WASP-y. I really coulda easily gotten away with something much more dramatic and costume-y. Gotta work on my wardrobe - entirely too much business apropriate type stuff, and that's so blah...

Ugh...short term financial crisis averted, long term one has begun. I actually had a small freak out in the car on Sunday when Himself said 'where we goin' now? You make the decision while I get coffee.' I couldn't come up with an idea where I wouldn't be tempted to spend money, and of course (Helloo, August in Texas!_ it was entirely too hot to go for a walk in the park. So I pulled out my iPad to see what was playing at the discount theater and COULD NOT GET THE F'N THING TO EVEN FIND THE THEATER, no matter what I asked it to find. No, I didn't want a list of everything showing in the entire city! No I didn't want to go to some theater in another state! RAR!!

So I was frustrated, and annoyed, and in a mildly more anxious frame of mind - and he chose that moment to get back in the car. Yeah - bad combination all around.

We ended up going to the mall and walking around there in the a/c. And I noticed at least 2 other couples doig what looked like exactly what we were doing. So THIS is how Texans get their walks in during the summer! I actually saw a woman with her DOG taling a stroll! This is why malls should continue to exist! Not as a mecca for retail, but as a place to walk in a environmentally controlled enbironment!

I mean, they've already got movie theaters and food - add some more entertainment options, charge a small price for some things like they already do for movies, and voila! An agging complex gets a new life!

I did not sleep well Friday into Saturday. My Fitbit says I got less than 6 total hours. So Saturday was mainly just running errands. But that pillow felt soo good when I went to bed Saturday night!

I had blood drawn sat morning - had to go to a new location since the old place isn't open on the weekends. The new place is in the Women's Center at the hospital nearest me. Yay. I got up in time to be there when the doors opened, but was late because we had no clue where it was once in the building. The waiting room was full when we finally walked in, and it took them over an hour to get to me. Not sure if the bloodwork will be very accurate because of that, but at least it got done. They called me on the way home saying my urine sample wasn't enough to run the tests they needed to run, could I come back before they closed at noon?? Ahahaha...no. The super efficient nature of the transplanted kidney means I wake up every morning slightly dehydrated, and I'm recovering all day. It's amazing I was able to produce that much, even after drinking water on the drive over. Going back later today to try again.

But Sunday was completely different. I went back to the Blue Genie building to hang out with an amazing local artist who was kind enough to teach me crochet while we were at her booth for the West Austin Studio Tour. She's a photographer - go check out her work at www.annwoodallstudios.com It was so satisfying to be handing out with Creative Types once again I need to rekindle that aspect of my life - reconnect with old friends, cultivate new ones who will encourage and support that side of me.

Fortunately a lot of the hand/thumb/wrist/forearm issues I used to have seem to have disappeared after the transplant. :)

Yesterday was Mom's 80th birthday. I called her that evening. I was going to invite her out to dinner tonight to celebrate, but I called furing a late dinner (for them, anyway). She was going to call me back after she was done to discuss it further, but never did. Still haven't heard from her today, either. Makes me feel incredibly unimportant to my own mother when she does this sort of thing. :(

We happened to catch part of the movie Split on TV yesterday. (Not sure when we came in, but we watched to the end.) Last night I was dreaming about it - I was 'the one who got away', being chased, and interspersed with the running were images of my father in hit hospital bed in his bedroom at home - where he spent his last months dying of lung cancer. The white of the sheets and his t-shirt, eith only the sickly blue-white of his skin breaking it up was so clear and memorable.

Why did I have to remember that dream?? I rarely remember my dreams after waking up, but I'm afraid that one will stick around for a while.

The West Austin Studio Tour is this weekend and next weekend. We went after doing my Daughterly Duty on Mother's Day (deliberately, so we could keep the visit short), and it was so fun. and inspiring. :) One artist was sitting in her booth with a large crochet hook and an even larger ball of 'yarn' that was actually cut up strips of old sheets. We chatted for quite a while about what she was doing (making rag rugs), where she got the materials (Goodwill Blue Hanger), and the crochet process specifically. She even offered to teach me how to crochet if I came by next weekend! So I'm trying to figutr out something Himself can do while I'm there so he isn't hanging around being bored while I learn a new trick. LOL

There was another artist, who goes by Deadly Creative on the Internets, who specializws in photographs of old, abandoned buildings (and a few other muy interesante things. Amazing stuff - www.deadeadlycreative.com - go there or on FB to see her work and be amazed. AMAZED I tell you! Nest part? She was wearing the cutest dress from Hot Topic - a light colored fit and flare, sleeveless and laced up the back, with spiders and scorpions printed all over in black. LOVED it.

I came home feeling inspired, and full of so many ideas, and itching to get back into creating things. Hope I can actually translate that into movement.

We're in the middle of a very stormy week down here. As I type, I'm hearing rumbles of thunder, plus the weather app on my iPad just notified me of a severe thunderstorm warning being issued just now. It's not like we need the rain - it's been a very rainy Spring and there's no sign it's stopping any time soon. There have been lives lost because of people driving over low water crossings and getting varried away by the water flowing over the roadway. The rivers aren't currently flooded, but with all the rain coming, it may still happen.

Water is one of the main reasons why I don't ever want to live in a ground floor apartment.

I had to move my cactus further in under the roof on the balcony. It's actually started blooming, but it's probably now in danger of death by drowning.

Last Sunday we went downtown to the POP Cats event. There were panels related to cats, and vendors with cat toys and cat themed items. And yes, there were a few 'cats to pet'. I only managed to pet one, and he was at the Williamson County shelter booth. But he looked so much like one of my first kittens, and his brother looked just like the other one! I still miss my Beasties, but I know Death comes for all of us. :(

There was also a booth for a Pet Sitting Service, and their sign mentioned Behaviot Modification, so I spent while talking to them, hoping to get a new insight into WHY Hairy occasionally shits on the bed. RAR. They went through a list of possibilities, but they were already things I'd thought of, so no real help from them. But it was worth a try. *sigh*

I was so pleased with myself - I managed to get out after only spending $5 on only one single cat toy instead of trying to buy All The Things. :)

I've been idly thinking about doing a SNA test to learn more about my father's side of the family. Mom's side is VERY well documented - thanks to her Uncle (my great-Uncle) Willard, who was a Tenured History Professor at Georgia Tech back before the Information Age. Her side goes back to the founding of some of the original 13 colonies, including the Mayflower. But my dad's side is pretty much a total mystery, despite Uncle Willard trying to trace it. So I was pondering the idea of having her do a DNA test, then doing one on me, and seeing where they don't match. That would have to be Daddy's ancestry. And with it being so close to Mother's Day, most DNA companies are having sales right now...

There are so many things I missed out on after my father died when I was so young. I never got a chance to get to know him as a person, and my mother's view of him is so heavily biased against him that I don't trust almost everything she has to say about who he was. She's rarely missed a chance to badmouth him in some way, and she's even got her current husband blindly parroting her views, even though he never had any first hand experience. Isownright do have some good memories of him - he was the one who read to me before bed and would come in and lay down next to me when I was afraid of the dark - they tell me he couldn't possibly be as bad as my mother tries to tell me he was.

I'm getting tired of Apartment Management sending out so many emails about when they're coming into my space when it's convenient. Maybe it wouldn't bother me so much if it they didn't send me daily emails about it. It just seems like lately it's been downright SPAMMY. Now it's the anuual Fire Department Inspection - which was supposed to happen today, but the latest SPAM says it'll be tomorrow. O yay.

The Boil Water Requirement was lifter late this afternoon - and it's about time!!And since the water never failed a bacteria test, we're not required to flush our pipes.

But I am hearing some comments questioning the timing of he notice, since it was issued less than 12 hours after the Formula One Grand Prix race was over and the visitors who came into town for that had time to leave.The rivers were already starting to flood before Race weekend, yet they waited until after the weekend was over to issue the notice. Questions are being asked - who knew what and when?

Not that 'things' are back to normal just yet - people are still cleaning up after the floods, and some of the lakes on the Higland Lakes chain are still closed due to the increased amount of dirt and debris, plus the higher water levels - but it should be back to 'business as usual' soon.

Only one day for projected rain on the forecast for the rest of this week, so we can continue to dry out!

Except it's now mandatory instead of an advisory. One of the treatment plants failed the water quality test a day or so ago.

At least it's quit raining! We had some yesterday, but today it's gone and it isn't predicted to return for the next *6* days! And that's saying something - we haven't had 6 straight days of no rain since August!

Personally - I'm more than ready for it to be over. I haven't had a decent shower since Sunday, and my skin is ITCHY. This is why I don't do week-long camping events. lol

Broke down and took a PYA bath after my workout. Definitely NOT satisfactory, but better than nothing I guess.The evning news says they may lift the Need as 'soon' as Sunday - I sure hope so!

Slept in til 4pm yesterday, so sleeping last night wasn't happening. But I did finally manage to drift off after 5am or so...still gotta find a way to stop that.

Any place in Central Texas that gets it's water supply from the City of Austin is now being advised to stop drinking the tap water and use bottled water for drinking and cooking. (And to be on the safe side, use boiled water for washing dishes.) Bo lawn watering or car washing either until further notice.

We've even been asked to reduce our shower times.

All because of the historic flooding upstream and the debris and silt it's put into the water supply that becomes our drinking water. The water processing plant is still working, but it's taking longer to process the water and the equipment needs to taken offline more often for cleaning and maintenance.

We've been lucky the past 2 days because it hasn't rained, but the forecast shows an increasing chance of rain for the next 3 days, and it wouldn't tale ,uch to cause even more flooding. Here's hoping Hurricane Willa will go much further S than it currently looks.

Been pondering the NONEWSEWMO challenge the past couple of days. I certainly have enough UFOs to join in! U could even put the pieces that need repair work at the top of the list and reduce the appearance of clutter around here too! It might even fet me back into a creative headspace again - I've been missing that a lot lately.

Hmm...I've got a week to think/ponder...

I find it darn near to impossible to fall asleep in a room that's warmer than 75 degrees. One would think that wouldn't be unreasonable to expect in an apartment in the Northern Hemisphere in December, but NO - it's Texas and this is looking to be another 'warmer than normal' year.

PLUS, I had yet another potential project idea - which got my brain going on potential plans on how to do it and if it would just be less expensive to buy, assuming my idea already exists - which is possible. Probable, even. But that involves some research. Which I can't do while sleeping.

Yeah. I'm awake now.

I'm waiting til the place cools off a bit before I even attempt sleep again. The TV, oven, and clothes dryer are all off now, so there's hope for that.

I discovered the most amazing store today. Or maybe I REdiscovered it. I think I've been in it before, but it was many many moons ago. 'The Arabic Bazaar'. So many beautiful things! So much want on my part! I don't think I could have found a single item for sale in there that wasn't made in some part of the Middle East. Jewelry, lamps, clothing, rugs, furniture...the list goes on. All of it amazing. They had set up a small table for coffee and baklava. Never had the first, don't like the second. The coffee was quite different than what we normally drink - black, sweet, with some cardamom. Interesting. I must go again, but earlier in the day when the sun is brighter.

I'm going to have to have another chat with myy kidney doctor about what is 'healthy' disease prevention and what is germophobia. My GI tract is more finicky than it was before the transplant and I need a refresher on that subject.