ProfessorTomoe

COMING SOON (HOPEFULLY), TO AN AMAZON MUSIC STORE NEAR YOU:

Boston Market cornbread with butter and Vegemite. Nom.

[LIVE*PD] I fell asleep in the middle of tonight's episode, thanks to my pain meds. I'm watching the re-air.

I HAVE THE COPYRIGHT RELEASE AND THE ART FILES! Had to ask her a couple of CMYK-related questions, but aside from that, I've got everything staged. I've got to wait until Monday to submit it.

If you've kept up with one of the other threads on the Off Topic Forum, you'll have heard of a certain feral cat that sits outside our house and yowls for attention every night. Here's a picture of him: Due to the sheer volume his lungs can generate, as well as to his stamina (he can carry on for HOURS), Mrs. Prof and I long ago named him Loudmouth. We've doubted if he's really a true feral cat or an abandoned house cat, because he enjoys being petted and brushed and will even let you pick him up. Mrs. Prof tried once letting him indoors, but he acted too much like an alpha cat and didn't exactly get along with our indoor cat, Baker. However, he didn't freak out about being inside. Instead, he seemed comfortable being indoors. A few days ago, after Mrs. Prof went outside for the umpteenth time to pamper Loudmouth (who's even allowed her to treat him with Revolution), she broached the subject of bringing him inside. I didn't see any choice—it was either that, or live with the nightly yowling. She proceeded to spend this past weekend catifying one of the rooms of our house so that Loudmouth could be quarantined until properly introduced. Yesterday, she'd set up an appointment for both Loudmouth and Baker to be seen by the vet. Of course, when the time came to leave, Loudmouth was nowhere to be found. (She took Baker, though, who got a clean bill of health.) This morning, she went out back (see the above photo of our patio) to feed the ferals. Loudmouth was still a no-show. She checked the front door, which is where Loudmouth holds his nightly concerts. Bingo! Loudmouth was there, waiting for food and a brushing, She brushed him, and then went back inside and put food in the cat room, expecting to find Loudmouth still waiting out front. She then opened the front door. No Loudmouth. Just as a last chance, she checked the back again. Loudmouth had joined the ferals and was eating. She picked him up and brought him inside, saying to him, "Are you ready for your outdoor days to come to an end?" She then put Loudmouth in the cat room. Mrs. Prof has occasionally gone in to check on Loudmouth during the day. He's eaten, used the litter box, and, when she's been back there, he's been "very loving." He's shown no tendency to start up one of his opera performances. Yet. Outside the door, Baker has skulked around when Mrs. Prof has been in the room. He's a bit jealous and will need extra attention tonight, I think. Loudmouth will be taken to the vet on Thursday (the earliest day available for Mrs. Prof) to check for diseases. If he's got anything communicable, he goes back out. Otherwise, he gets treated and/or vaccinated. Then the process of acclimating him to our household will begin. Updates, possibly including Trail Cam photos from the cat room, will follow. This is going to be interesting.

A very regal-looking Loudmouth.

Both cats crashed out on the sofa:

Just chatted with the artist on Facebook. She's going to have the copyright release paperwork proofread and sent tonight so I can send back the signed copy tomorrow and shoot the whole ball of wax to Disc Makers. Alllllllmost finished!!!!!!

If you want to see the album art, send me a PM. All I'm waiting for right now is for the artist to fix about ten typos in her boilerplate copyright transfer contract. Once that's done, I'll sign it and be ready to submit!

The album cover art is no longer a problem. In fact, I believe it's finished! A graphic designer friend of Mrs. Prof's came to the rescue. If this passes muster, I'm going to be ready to submit my album to Disc Makers by Friday!

My firing coordinates are a State Secret.

I finally got in touch with a FiOS tech support person who was familiar with my situation. However, I was told that since the changes made to my account haven't closed out yet, she couldn't do anything for me today. Instead, she would give me a call no later than Wednesday. My lack of belief was obvious through my voice.

And things have gone south with our 150/150 upgrade, all for the want of a plastic box. The installer said the system no longer comes with a Uninterruptible Power Supply. Instead, one can call customer service and request a "battery backup" (literally—a plastic box that you populate with batteries, screw into the wall, and plug into a slot on the "Power Adapter Unit"), which is usually provided at no cost. Attempt one at calling was a miserable failure. I used Frontier's "call me back" feature and set up a time for them to call me. An hour past that time, as I was in the bathroom, they called. I just missed picking up the call. Attempt two is still ongoing. I got a general customer service person who had absolutely no idea of what I was talking about. He did have the guts to try and sell me an antivirus package while someone had *him* on hold. I asked to speak to a manager. I didn't get one. Instead, I got transferred to technical support. After explaining my problem to them, I was told I was in the wrong department and needed to be transferred to "FiOS Technical Support." I was promised that all of my problems would be solved there. I'm still on hold. Two hours of "call me back" time, an hour and seven minutes of hold time, and I'm nowhere close to being done. I want a large caliber piece of field artillery and I want it *now*.

Seems to be working so far, with a minimum of muss and fuss ...

If this works out without any problems creeping in, I will be a very happy bunny afterward. Frontier FiOS is coming out today to make amends for some serious fark-ups, too numerous to mention, that they've made over the past three or four months. As part of our new plan, our internet speed is being increased from 50/50 to 150/150. This is going to require a rewire of our house, since our old wiring can't handle that bandwidth. It'll also require a new router. The thought of what we can do with 150/150 speed is tantalizing, but there are so many places where things can go wrong. Please give Mrs. Prof and me your good luck wishes.

We got tired of Baker and Loudmouth arguing over the Throne, so Mrs. Prof built them a new Duplex Throne:

First I'm seeing about it. I'm sorry - I wouldn't have tried to chat with you on Facebook yesterday. Is there anything we can do to help?

Went back to the podiatrist for a followup. My toe is still red, and the nail bed is presenting "proud flesh." He trimmed some of that off and clipped the adjoining toenail, then put me back on 10 days of Clindamycin. I'm supposed to soak in water, vinegar, and epsom salts for two weeks and then come see him again. I never have healed well. Even before I became diabetic, and even now that I'm no longer diabetic (per my cardiologist). Wounds just take forever to heal with me.

We have had five inches of rain in the last 24 hours.

Rain today. Rain tomorrow. Rain the day after. Rain the day after that.

Saw the folks at the pain center yesterday. Found out they only did injections on my right side during my last transforaminal procedure. That explains why my left side of my back is starting to hurt again - it was just getting carryover from the steroids on the right. Well, that's getting taken care of soon. I'm getting a set of transforaminal injections on my left side. I hope it carries over to my right, because that's starting to hurt again. They've got to clear it with my insurance first, but I'm guessing sometime within the next three months.