Elephant art

Even if this is a fake, it's pretty cool. I think I'll just accept that this elephant really is painting another elephant.

Happy Birthday Anhaga!

It is the Constable's (Haywain) Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to you, dear Anhaga! I hope you got to do something fun and had a wonderful day! xoxoxoxox

Leopard Slug sex

Who knew slug sex was so fascinating and beautiful?

Rebate scams

Queenee bought a new dryer a month or so ago from Sears. It's a fine dryer and she thought she was getting a good deal. It was on sale, plus there was a 10% rebate and free delivery. What's not to like?

The clerk at Sears gave PopPop the necessary paperwork and even circled the rebates that were available. When he gave the receipt and rebate form to me, I saw that the rebate could be filed online, but during the last step I got an error page instead of a confirmation. So I filled out the paperwork, made photocopies of everything and mailed it in.

What do you suppose came in the mail a couple days ago? A rejection letter, claiming that the rebate was either improperly filled out, illegible, or damaged. I smell a rat here. Why? Because not a week after mailing in the rebate form and original receipt, I got an email saying that it had been received and was being processed. Obviously it was all perfectly legible then, because I used an email address I knew Sears did not have on file.

The scam is that now Sears gets to sit on that money they owe Queenee for another month or so, collecting whatever interest they can get. Add that in with the thousands of other people they pull this on, and it is not an insignificant amount of money. And it isn't just Sears, in my experience you can pretty much count on this as the normal pattern. The real jackpot for companies who play this game is that a lot, if not most, people are not as careful or suspicious as I am and don't bother to keep copies of *everything*, so they are shit out of luck when their rebate is rejected out of hand. Insurance companies pull this crap all the time. They either reject a legitimate claim outright at first, or lowball you on their first offer. Scumbags, the lot of them. And these same people will piss and moan when it happens to them, whining about how unscrupulous people are. If this is company policy, and it sure seems to be, then the people at the top need to start living like the rest of us and get a friggin' clue about what it's like to be waiting for that little bit of money, only to be told they have to jump through a few more hoops and wait another 6-8 weeks.

I need to move to an island with my cats.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone - check out the entries in the 2008 Washington Post Peeps Diorama competition. You may have to view this in IE, depending on your Firefox setup.

D's and Peas arrived at about 11am this morning. Queenee had just gotten out of the shower, and you can just imagine how good that must have felt! She can't wait to be out of the wheelchair, and who can blame her? It is eight weeks ago today that she had her accident. Dawg and FluffyDuf got here around 1pm. Everyone wishes the Cudjoe Krew was here and sends a big Happy Easter greeting to them!

More x-rays

Queenee had more x-rays this afternoon. None of the ankle, which looks great (at least from the outside!), but of her ribs, sternum and right wrist. I've been bugging her to get the wrist x-rayed from the get-go and now she knows for sure that she has a fracture in her right wrist. Dr. Zaidi spoke to PopPop before we got home, so we don't know the details of exactly where or how bad it is, but it seems likely it is a hairline fracture that is similar to what happened with her ribs. The ribs look good and her lungs are excellent, so that was good news. The sore sternum is just a bruise and not a break, which is also great news, since a broken sternum can bend back and interfere with the heart. Finally, she mentioned the pain in her left arm, and Dr. Zaidi said it is not nerve damage, as Queenee feared, but a deep muscle hematoma. Basically, she's got a big ole bad bruise deep in the muscle tissue which will take some time to break down. Her instructions are to give her wrist and underarm more time to heal and not to bang them around. She should also be wearing that wrist brace to give the wrist some support, but what do I know?

She's in good spirits in general, getting a bit stir-crazy having to sit at home though. I get her out when I can, though not as often as she'd like. She is antsy to get back to work and they are all waiting anxiously for her to return.

I Forgot

I haven't heard a thing in the way of Tom Rush these past years. Coming across this YouTube video of him singing "I forgot" came at the perfect time. Been one of those days! Enjoy a giggle!

Going green

Not that we want to scare the small children and the pets on St. Patrick's Day, but PopPop finally let the Younger Pea talk him into going for the green! He chose his own earrings for this lovely portrait.

The D's and Peas came early and DamCat made a delicious boiled dinner. While she was busy in the kitchen, Queenee bought a car. She got a silver 2006 Hyundai Sonata. It's a nice car, handles really well and is roomy for a mid-sized sedan. It isn't a convertible, like what PopPop wanted, but it does have a sun-roof, which will do nicely. It has airbags all around, ABS and traction control, and the CD player will play mp3s. No more tapes for the Queen! I think she'll enjoy driving this car.

She is getting around a bit better now that she can put some weight on her ankle, but she is still tied to the walker and the wheelchair. Maybe in another couple weeks, she'll be able to use a cane. For now, she just has to be patient (no pun intended) for a while longer. She's lost twenty pounds over the last six weeks, which is great. And she's missing Key Dear a lot.

X-ray day

Queenee's x-ray looked good and the doctor said she can now put up to 50% of her weight on the ankle, as long as she wears the boot and uses the walker. Next week she's up to 75% with the same caveats, and a week after that he'll do another x-ray. If all goes well, she'll get a new ankle brace, something smaller, and she'll start walking with a cane. At that point she'll be able to go back to work, which I know she is looking forward to doing.

We miss Key Dear.

Key Dear is heading home

We've been lucky to have her here as long as we have, but it's time for Key Dear to go home to her own family. We would have been lost without her, there is no doubt about that. As much as Queenee is going to miss her, I think PopPop will miss her the most.

Queenee is doing well six weeks after her accident. She'll be x-rayed on Wednesday and with a little luck, she'll be told she can put some weight on her broken ankle. Once that happens, she'll be unstoppable! Her ribs are still sore, but not nearly as bad as they were a couple weeks ago.

I have discovered a handy tool for those who enjoy sparkling wine as much as I do - it is called the Pinzon Champagne Opener, and it is the slickest thing you could want for opening Champagne and sparkling wines. I ordered one hoping it would be half as cool as it looks in the photo. It turned out to be that and more. It is a very solid device and makes quick work of even the most difficult cork. Worth every penny.

Happy Birthday Logito!

Have a very Happy Birthday, Mr. L, kill lots of Nazis today to celebrate! Thank you for loaning us your Mom, I know she'd love to be with you today.

xoxoxoxox