ProfessorTomoe

Yeah, but you've got to cook them to get the maillard reaction, and that takes time to get it just right, and by then the guy's gone ...

Bailiff, whack that comment with a large mallard duck.

Just had an interesting moment with Baker and Loudmouth. Loudmouth was on top of the bed, letting me give him a tummy rub, while Baker was walking around my feet. Baker then disappeared. Next thing I heard was a fabric scratching noise coming from the other side of the bed. Loudmouth started growling, even while I was petting him. I went over to the other side, expecting to see Baker, but he'd ducked under the bed. Project: block off the space under the bed so that neither of the cats can get under it. That's a JG tip.

Having another smoked goose breast sandwich, this time warmed. Mayo and Muenster cheese again. Warm smoked goose breast rocks! I've always heard that duck fat is king when it comes to frying other things. I hope goose fat is close, because I've never had duck fat.

As long as Mrs. Prof doesn't get Loudmouth too hyper by playing, yes. Otherwise, it's barf city.

I'm still waiting for the Phoenix feather for Tedd to put into the wand.

True, true. I'll pass it along to Mrs. Prof. Thanks!

We now have cat barf. From Loudmouth. He dumped his stomach contents onto the edge of the bed, so part of it slid off. Mrs. Prof says this happened after a] he'd been eating and b] he'd been playing rather vigorously, jumping from the floor to the bed and vice versa. Probably her fault.

Mrs. Prof finally put the Trail Camera to its intended use last night. She was looking for cats at a property where a feeder who'd taken over from one who'd moved had said she'd never seen any cats, but the food was disappearing and the water was getting dirty—a sign of raccoons. She didn't find any raccoons, but she found a cat and some unidentified bird: Can anyone identify the bird just from the overhead shot?

And a step backward. Bed pee from Loudmouth, right outside the litter box. I'm wondering if he got up on the litter box, hung his rear over the edge, and peed that way. Mrs. Prof doesn't know what to think. All I know is that we can't have a cat loose in the house who can't hit the mark every time. This is a major issue, and Mrs. Prof agrees. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've looked it up, and I think I'm getting one pill above the lowest dose. It's actually a capsule, which means I can't cut it in half, BTW. It's not helping yet anyway, so I've just got to get used to it until it builds up a serum level so that it starts helping with the pain. Here's a link to the dosage chart, although you'll have to scroll up to find it: https://www.lyrica.com/frequently-asked-questions#what-are-approved-doses-lyrica I don't fit into any of the categories listed in the Indication column, so my podiatrist may have used a list that I don't have access to.

Finally, we have a short (and I do mean short) video on my YouTube channel of Loudmouth and Baker, filmed and narrated by Mrs. Prof! Here's the link:

Figured out how to carve the smoked goose breast and am now having a sandwich made with it, mayo, and Muenster cheese. Delicious. The meat tastes like a cross between bacon and smoked chicken. Five stars, so far.

6:47 a.m. CDT 20170723. No withdrawal feelings this morning. However, the pain on my right side from my back down my side is more pronounced. Might be because I overslept my hydrocodone by about 90 minutes. I don't know anymore. It's impossible to keep up with all of my medical side effects. I put my hearing aids in the moment Mrs. Prof woke up and came into the living room (i.e., just before I started typing this). I'm finding that I need them more and more to understand what she says. She has a high palate, which makes her speech a bit unusual to begin with. The hearing aids give me an argument when she starts mumbling—if I've got them in and I can't understand her, she's not talking right. I just realized that I took off the SHOE OF PAIN but kept my right shoe on. Weird. Might be because I took all of my pills before I started typing this. ... aaaaand the Lyrica is starting to kick in. Double vision and coughing are my secondary side effects from it. I've already documented the primary side effects. Strange, though, that a medicine like this would cause coughing. It's a documented side effect, though, but not common (0.1% to 1%). I can feel it making my right sinus drip down my throat, making me cough. The double vision is hitting pretty hard right now. Typing is difficult. I'll have to cut this short. More later.

The new babygate for Loudmouth's room arrived: Unfortunately, it was a miserable failure. Baker didn't want to eat. Loudmouth ate some, then jumped the gate and went to our bedroom and leapt up onto our bed and assumed a relaxed posture. This was probably due to him getting comfy on our bed earlier in the day when he and Baker were out and interacting with each other: Baker allowed the intrusion. In fact, he relaxed in his window hammock. He's still not 100% comfortable with Loudmouth being out and about, but he's growing to tolerate it. Anyway, a bit more gate jumping took place before Loudmouth settled down in his room. Mrs. Prof asked me if we should let him out again. I said no—Baker's probably had enough for the night. So, she closed the door. Loudmouth's finally using the litter box on the floor again. He's still using the bed litter box, though. Perplexing. I'm not about to have Mrs. Prof move the box off of the bed. It's too soon. Baker was strangely feisty tonight. He usually jumps up on the sofa next to me and lets me pet him. However, I was scratching Mrs. Prof's back on the other side of the sofa when he jumped up this time. I went to my normal spot after Mrs. Prof's back scratch and tried to pet Baker, but instead of a docile cat I got teeth and claws. It took me several minutes of slow blinking at him to get him to let me pet him. So, things are slowly progressing, sort of in a zig-zag manner. I hope we aren't screwing things up.

You left out BOB, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and about a hundred other deities.

7:28 p.m. CDT 20170722. The second dose is just as weird as the first, with a not-so-good waking-up sensation. It felt like I had some sort of withdrawal symptom when I first got up today. Once I got all of my medications into me, I felt better. Then the Lyrica kicked in. It gives you a euphoric feeling you don't get from alcohol, or at least I never did. I used to get a warm, happy feeling from alcohol when I could drink (can't anymore). This sensation isn't warm or happy—it's more like you're floating around the room in a little cloud of cheery, meek euphoria, but subject to outside interference from others. Your equilibrium is shot to hell for most of the day, and you may get hit with double vision (that could just be me, due to all of the other medications I'm on). At one point, you'll be hit with an urge to sleep, but you won't be able to at first. It'll be a couple of hours before you'll be truly able to crash out, and even after you wake up you'll still experience some of the symptoms (especially the equilibrium). It's been around 12 hours since my second dose, and I'm not feeling any withdrawal. I've still got two more hours before I usually take my medications, so the Lyrica is going to have to wait until about 9:30 p.m. before I take it again. At least my equilibrium is a bit better right now. N.B.: my equilibrium has also been screwed up by the SHOE OF PAIN on my left foot. I swear, it feels like my right leg grew to compensate for the extra height of the boot and, later, the orthopedic shoe I had to wear. Just a complicating factor that may have been part of what I've been blaming on the Lyrica.

Measles?

Sigh. Okay, then, another Close-Up Foundation story: On my off day, after I watched the House of Representatives for a while, I walked through the halls of the Capitol toward the Senate chambers. Outside, I noticed a lot of news reporters gathered, waiting for someone to come out. I had my Close-Up Foundation tag on and my camera around my neck, so I loitered near the group. A Capitol policeman tried to shoo me away, but I returned, this time getting closer to the group. I also had a notepad in my pocket, so I pulled that out and pretended to be writing. No one bothered me after that. The news group grew more active, so I moved in just a bit closer. Finally, the person they'd been waiting for came out: Senator Ted Kennedy! I put my notebook away and took some pictures. Unfortunately, I put them in one of the sticky albums that everyone was using at the time, so scanning them is difficult. Mrs. Prof did her best for me, and I'm retouching them in Irfanview 64. Here they are: I wish I could remember what he was talking about. It was some bill, but I don't remember what the bill was. Also, I apologize for the lines across the pictures. That's from the adhesive used in the photo album. I hope I can find the negatives one day and scan them.