a99kitten's Musings

After laundering my iPhone 4 last weekend (doh…also duh), I took it to a phone repair place recommended by a friend. They said they fix 9 out of 10 water damaged phones. I said it was submerged for a good 3-5 minutes. The woman said bring it in – it was worth trying. True, so I did. After 2 days of working on it, they did get it to turn on which is pretty amazing but said the damage was to the main board which is not replaceable so it was D.E.D. Damn.

The same friend suggested I take it to an Apple store and see if they offer me a deal on a replacement. Honestly, I didn’t want to spend anymore time on this and just wanted to find a phone replacement ASAP and not think about it anymore. I plan on getting the iPhone 5 when it comes out in 2 months so whatever. He said just try. OK, maybe I will I thought.

Decided to run over there today so that if they said “that will be $500 please”, I still had tomorrow to figure things out before the weekend, in case I decided to go up to Tahoe tomorrow night. As usual, the store was packed. I found the 1 rep not already helping someone and when he asked how he could help me, I told him about my drowned phone. He checked it out and agreed – yeah pretty obvious water damage. He said he could make an appointment with me for the The Genius Bar and maybe they could help me out with a replacement. I overheard the salesgirl behind me telling her customer that there were no appointments open until 5pm. I asked him if she had been talking about for the Genius Bar and he responded yes. He offered to make me an appointment for 4pm at a different location if that would help. I did my best dejected and pouty face. He said “Do you want me to see if they can get you in now?” YES – that would be so awesome of you! Off he went and I followed. He went to the back and came out and waved me over and handed me off to A Genius…at the Bar.

I explained that my phone was dead from water damage. The Genius asked if from ocean, pool, shower? I said washing machine. He responded “Wow – new one for me.” Yay I said – glad to help :) Then he took my info and started looking up my number in their system. Turns out I was still under warranty (YAY) but water damage is specifically excluded (BOO). But then he said he could help me out anyway with a replacement. WHAT??? No charge. HUH????

He took my phone, transferred the number and handed me my new phone. And asked if there was anything else he could do. Umm…no. You just made my day so we are all good here :)

I’m sure Apple knows they can lose customers at any time to Android phone buyers. So they treat customers well to keep them. Smart (Genius really…get it? Genius?) business move. And I’m sure they looked to see when I was due for my 2-year renewal with AT&T so how long would it be till I upgraded/bought a new phone from them, or if I spent hundreds of dollars now on a replacement phone what were the odds I’d do it again in 2 months for the iPhone 5. Plus we know they have $10gazillion in cash just sitting around burning a hole in their pocket ($10gazillion more than the US government does as the news stories pointed out last week) so keeping customers satisfied with some refurbished (I assume anyway) phones is a cheap way to keep existing customers happy so they spend more money with you!

So I have to say a BIG thank you to Apple and their staff for turning a pain in the butt yuck issue into an easy and very satisfying (and quick!) visit!

I will definitely buy my iPhone 5 when it comes out now! Oh – and will definitely add more AAPL stock to my portfolio! :)

This morning I was reading the packaging of the “topper” I recently started giving to Angelus (Stormy is still too picky) with his regular dry dog food. It’s called Stella & Chewy’s (and no I did not buy it because I think Chewbacca makes it.) Basically they are a healthy doggie MRE. I break up a half of one and put it over Angelus’ dry food instead of adding a bit of wet food. He gets bored of the same food every day – wouldn’t you? So I switch up the “topper”.

It’s freeze-dried food “Natural with added vitamins and minerals”, “Made with raw, wild Alaskan salmon and raw, naturally raised beef plus fruits and vegetables” and “No grain, added hormones or antibiotics, artificial preservatives, sugar, salt or coloring”. We are trying the Surf n Turf now. And will then move on to other flavors if he keeps liking it.

I, on the other hand, didn’t eat breakfast (never do unless a Sunday mimosa brunch!) and am now eating a Lean Cuisine frozen lunch that contains so many things that I can’t pronounce, it’s best I don’t know what it actually is. Oh…and don’t forget just a touch of sodium.

Hmmm. I clearly take much better care of the buds than myself! Eh…that’s OK, they are waaaay cuter :)

It’s pretty gross that Congress takes a month off (yeah, yeah they are going to visit their constituents. Uh-huh.) The President (and God knows how big of an entourage) is going to Martha’s Vineyard. The EU leaders (as well as most workers in EU) get all of August off as well. At least the British Prime Minister acted like a leader and came back to deal with the scum-sucking, pieces of crap rioters who all should just be shot and dealt with that way.

But no. The average American is lucky to get to Disneyland for the weekend or take a few days off to spend with their kids on their summer vacations from the pathetic institution of public schools. But our leaders get to take the summer off while our markets tumble, our economy continues to falter, we have high unemployment and we continue to fight wars in Afghanistan and Libya (this has been a long few days for our troops helping the UN there.)

But right…I forgot. This is all George Bush’s fault. Or the fat cats on Wall Street. Or the private jet owners. Finger-pointing = done. Time to hit the beach….

I just finished Andrew Gross’ recent release “Eyes Wide Open”.

It was good. There were actually a couple parts where I was very stressed out and locked the doors at night! Husband asked “Why do you read books like this?” I don’t know. Same reason I watch “Criminal Minds” I guess?

This book is about a guy trying to figure out why his nephew died. The how he died was obvious. But the why is not so. If you like whodunit/whydunit kind of story lines moving at a pretty quick pace, this is for you. He wrote a couple books with James Patterson as well as a few on his own. I’ve read all of his books and have enjoyed them all. And he sent me a signed book jacket for this book! True, my book is a Kindle book but that was cool.

I will say that I wasn’t sure I would like this one once I started reading it. It starts off (no plot spoilers don’t worry) with a kid (early 20s) seemingly killing himself. We find out that he had drug problems, family problems, family drug problems, not an easy “adult” life. He had an uncle (his dad’s younger brother) who had a good life. Lived on the opposite coast, basically separated himself far from his Dad and brother as their problems became to be more self-inflicted and he didn’t want to deal with them and he was living a great life with his wife, kids, career, etc. But the Uncle wanted to get the nephew away from the Dad/brother and get his life back on track. The kid also might have died because his doctors just plainly sucked.

As I was reading this I was reading parallels into my own life into the story. Just happens sometimes. Why I stay away from certain movies, shows, books, etc. My little brother unexpectedly died last November. By unexpectedly I mean I am still not “over it”. He was on psych drugs over-prescribed by his suck-ass doctors when he never should have been on any. I hate psych drug and doctors. Period. My Dad is an alcoholic. He could have fixed this. He didn’t. Yes, I firmly believe this. I have very little sympathy for him. I wish things were different but they aren’t. But my life, apart from the far away family drama, has been a pretty darn good one. And I did always want to get my brother out of there. I am still, and will always be, firmly convinced that had I gotten him away from the drama and out with me where people and life was normal, he would have done much better in life.

I almost stopped reading the book after the first bit actually. Was too scab-picky. I’m still not “over” stuff. Better I suppose. But still easily moved by the littlest/oddest things. But thankfully the story moved over into serial cult killer storyline and, frankly, I was happy about it. Would rather get freaked out by creep factor than saddened by real life emotions. And plenty of creep factor in this book!!

I remember reading about the Charles Manson stuff when I was young. I loved the Beatles and Helter Skelter was a theme that Manson grabbed onto so I was interested. But I also remember being insanely creeped out by the books and photos of the murders. Manson is the poster child for why the death penalty should be utilized. It’s rather ironic (and disgustingly gross if that could also define ironic here) that Jerry is our Governor once again and Manson is still being kept alive by CA tax dollars.…jackass.

Anyway, that is the story that Andrew Gross drew a parallel to with this story. Crazy. Creepy and great for diverting “real-life” story lines. I actually shut my Kindle one night and put it down. ARGH! Too scary! But picked up again the next night because I needed to know how it ended. :)

The tougher part was that Andrew Gross wrote a postscript on the book. About his own nephew dying of unclear circumstances. Bad drugs by bad doctors. Unexplained and inexcusable BS by doctors misdiagnosing their patient. Back to my own internal sadness about my brother. Hit home that I still have his ashes to hike up to the top of a mountain. Now that my ankle is healed enough to hobble up there, I need to. I am not waiting through another winter of too much snow. But I’m also not picking another location for convenience.

As I type this I have the TV on. I can’t even count the commercials for psych drugs offered for every little single thing. Let’s F up your mental and emotional state to treat aches and pains, smoking, weight loss, PTSD, addiction, etc. It makes me sick.

Anyway, I do recommend this book if you like creepy :)

I wonder if any traders are singing this…

I bet a few in Hong Kong are right about now…

Finally watched my Wonder Woman animated movie that I think I have had it on my family room table, as well as with me whenever I go up to Tahoe for an extended period, for like…over a year. If not 2. But I’d prefer to not think it’s been that long.  Because that means I have aged 2 years and OBVIOUSLY that is not true.

I liked it a lot. Was a good story, great animation and I was trying to guess the guest star voices :) It kept most of the Wonder Woman beginnings that I remember from my childhood reading. And the changes weren’t so bad that I wanted to say out loud at the screen  “That’s Not Right!” (yes…I have said that out loud in theaters….embarrassing my friends :) )

Funny thing about Wonder Woman mythology is that on the surface it is pretty anti-man, anti-mankind as a whole. I don’t recall ever noticing that as a kid. And since I’m fairly anti-mankind nowadays, it doesn’t bother me at all now…adays.

This movie had some pretty funny lines. Mostly by Steve Trevor (possibly my favorite: [after Diana shows a girl how to swordfight] “That was sweet. Teaching her to disembowel her playmates like that.” I laughed out loud.) And some by Artemis voiced by Rosario Dawson who sounded nothing like the Rosario Dawson of movies (ZERO Puerto Rican accent.)

The bad thing about watching this movie is that is got me searching Amazon for the Justice League movie, JLA seasons from Cartoon network that I missed due to time constraints and putting the Clone Wars Season 2 in my cart.

I bought the Wonder Woman Kotobukiyi statue while at Comic-Con. I have found that the female figures done are a) way cooler and b) rarer since most geek buyers are male so buy them up FAST :) Don’t believe me? Sample of an eBay auction for another statue that I want: “Kotobukiya CATWOMAN Bishoujo statue by Shunya BOOBS!” Yeah…so…anyway….a fairly good investment. *shaking head*

I really liked her when I saw her. I wasn’t planning on buying her. I was at the booth to buy the Han in Carbonite ice trays as well as the Star Wars light saber chopsticks (yeah…what?) Anyway, I saw her and liked her. Impulse buy! Kotobukiya does a good job with their statues. Their Chewbacca has been on my Find and Buy list for awhile.

I put her up on the living room bookshelf. Husband “demands” the collectibles kept in the home office so the house doesn’t start to look like The 40-year old Virgin’s house. Whatever. I get it. But whatever. I keep my voice-controlled R2 unit in the living room. Anyway, I put the WW statue up on the bookshelf in the living room. On the shelf with some Greek mythology. That works, right? Let’s see how long it takes for him to notice :)

Fun, if cold and wet, SUMMER August morning. Sigh….coastal summers kinda blow. But the huskies aren’t hot and then we get a gorgeous September – November so oh well. But I usually start getting really annoyed by the weather around now until it’s over (usually mid-late August.)

When we first got to Mavericks we didn’t see any other dogs. Uh-oh – too early? But then 2 ladies came with their dog but he was a ball dog – dang. The huskies do not understand ball or stick dogs. They say CHASE ME!!! Why chase a stupid ball or stick?? Angelus chases the dog as they chase their object but then if the dog doesn’t engage after a couple tries, he is done trying.  Storm doesn’t even try. He used to chase balls a few times and then would sit down and shred it. So I didn’t want him to steal other dog’s toys! But he was *usually* pretty good about that.

I tried getting them to walk down the beach but neither really had any interest. I think they wanted to stay by the beach entrance so they wouldn’t miss any new dogs coming in. Then we saw a group of people and dogs that we knew from past visits to Mavericks come around the cliff from the other side/beach. And then they decided it was OK to go down there and check it out. It was the Scottish Deerhound, a couple other spazzy dogs and then Grommet the boxer.

Ohmygosh – Stormy and Grommet were playing and playing and playing. They were having such a good time. And me without my iPhone today to video it :( Stoopid Mom. Grommet’s Mom was telling me how Grommet had a tussle with a really large husky awhile back so he is usually pretty skittish around huskies but he was doing great with my guys, especially Stormy (Angelus was mostly mixing it up with the other dogs.)

Storm and Grommet were tearing around, chasing each other and then other dogs would start in the chase too. I get a little stressed because I don’t want Stormy to get take out accidentally since the other dogs all outweigh him by a lot.  But everyone did a great job of not taking each other (or us 2-legged creatures) out.

When it was time for Grommet to leave and his Mom leashed him up, Stormy wanted to follow them out.  It was so sad – Stormy got so bummed his friend had to leave. After that, Stormy wasn’t so interested in staying. What a goober. He was probably kind of tired too after all that running and playing. So after a few attempts at walking further down the beach and only a couple small dogs coming in, that the huskies had no interest in playing with, I said who wants to go? Storm turned around like “Let’s Go!” and he led the march back to the car. And when I say march – I mean it.  The kid could out-march a battalion :) Angelus likes to dawdle on the way back. Sniff, pee, sniff, pee. Storm – he marches. Focus. Stay on target!  He would have made a great X-Wing pilot :)

I love watching them have fun. They are the best boys.

Finally put out my Gentle Giant bust that I pre-ordered from their Comic Con exclusives. Thankfully they allowed their club members to pre-order and not have to buy, pick-up and cart around at SDCC. And they shipped it as soon as the con ended.

It’s rather annoying but a LOT of the collectibles nowadays made are of stormtroopers, Clone troopers and other armored figures (Vader, Boba Fett, etc.) I get that it’s a) easier than real people and b) there are so many variations of them that they can make (pretty sure that was Lucas’ evil plan) but I don’t really collect most of them. I buy a few of them like the Clone Trooper that was on Kashyyyk with Yoda (and wookiees!), the Shadow trooper because he is cool looking and I bought the zombie trooper just because it was funny. And I have a few more different ones. But tend to stay away from them because I don’t care about them much AND they just make too many of them.

BUT – this one was different for 2 reasons:

a. It was the McQuarrie version which means it was the original art version so different from the finished film version.

And more importantly b) It’s Stormy’s full name!!

I liked the name Storm due to it being my 2nd favorite female superhero character and 2nd favorite X-Men character (Ororo/Storm.) But then when we got a 2nd male dog, I wanted to keep the name since I liked it.  And registered the full name “Hoth Stormtrooper” with the AKC.

So when I saw they made the snowtrooper, I had to get it :)

Come on - he's pretty cool looking!

He comes with 2 interchangeable heads. I like the one in the pic best. The other has a longer/slightly different helmet.

Seriously….I need more shelves…..

Last weekend, I went outside to take care of my kitty Gypsy. She lives in a big outside kitty house with kitty trees, shelves to jump on, etc. She used to live inside with her brother Jack. Then we got Angelus. He would chase the cats but generally left them alone once they jumped up into one of the trees or out of his way. Then we got Storm. Storm’s addition to the pack turned Angelus’ wolf/pack instinct on BIG time. BIG time. They would chase the cats. So every day when I got home, I would go inside, put the cats away in our home office, and then bring the dogs in (who always went to work with me). Then at night, would bring the dogs into the bedroom and put up the puppy gates, and then let the cats out to have the run of the house at night. Then in the AM – they got put away and the dogs were out in the house as I got ready for work. Rinse/Repeat. Every day.

Then when I was out of town and husband was in charge of this schedule for a day or 2, he let the dogs in before the cats were secured. They instantly found Jack and, as husband described it, acted just like wolves and chased/tag-teamed Jack and Angelus grabbed his butt in his mouth and Storm grabbed his front end in his mouth. All the while Jack was scratching at Storm’s face and Storm did not care. This all happened in like 3 seconds and then husband picked up both dogs by the scruff of their necks and they dropped Jack who ran into the closet and likely began plotting everyone’s deaths…or at least whose stuff he was going to pee on first.

Husband told me this and I freaked. He said we needed to find the kitties a safer home. I was sad about this as I had Jack before I had husband. But they weren’t safe here and that was not fair to them. At the same time, trying to find 2 kitties a home is pretty hard. And I was not just dropping them off at a shelter. That was not an option.

In the meantime, husband drove to Fresno or some such inland hellhole and bought a cat house. No – not a whore house. An actual cat house that you build – they supply all the pieces. He brought it home and had it built in the backyard over a weekend.  We put 2 cat trees in as well as various levels of beds in there. And moved the cats out there.

It made me sad. And I still feel like a cat mom failure.   Jack died 2 years ago. This left Gypsy alone and this made me feel even worse. She really belongs inside with someone who will let her cuddle and luxuriate around the house. Maybe even in bed.

I try and visit and spend time with her every day. Sometimes it’s just to check her food and water and a quick pet. Sometimes I hang out and just pet her. Still not the same though.  She needs a new Mom.

But she has always been on Advantage. And the dogs have always been on Frontline. I have literally NEVER seen a flea inside the house or on any of my animals EVER. Not ever.

Then, last Sunday, I went outside to spend more time with Gypsy than a quick pet and food check. I swept her floor and cleaned her water fountain (we ran power down there from under the house and she has a running-water fountain.)

I usually let the dogs out in the backyard while I do this, as they like to sniff around. Especially Angelus who likes to sniff around for critter scents.  We all went inside and upstairs. I went outside to the top deck to pet Storm and saw like 10 fleas all around his face. ARGH! ARGH! I was thinking it was the beach or something weird as we had just returned from Mavericks before I went out and saw Gyspy. I took a pot of water and a brush out on the deck and brushed and picked every flea off Storm – drowning them in the water. Since he is white and half naked, this was fairly easy.

I still was thinking this was beach related and went back outside to put the freshly washed and dried blankets back into Gypsy’s beds and then I saw my pants were covered in fleas. ARGH!!!!! ARGH TIMES 100000000!!!!!

I dropped everything. I tore all of Gypsy’s beds and blankets out and threw them onto the deck.  I ran inside, ripped my clothes off and threw them all into the shower and closed the bathroom door. I changed and wrapped everything into a large towel and then started a laundry cycle of my clothes, then the dog beds in the bedroom (that I had to run by) and then rewash all of Gypsy’s stuff in hot water, double rinse and then hot dryer.

Meanwhile, went upstairs and checked the dates on the dogs Frontline and Gypsy’s Advantage. The dogs had just gotten their Frontline applied about 2 weeks ago so if any fleas bit them, they would definitely die. But Gypsy’s Advantage was due in a few days so I went ahead and did it early. Same thing – they had to bite her to die. These things aren’t repellant. They are supposed to actually work longer than a month though so there was NO reason they wouldn’t be working.

I researched stuff online as I did not want super poisonous stuff around any of them but wanted some kind of spray to use outside. White vinegar supposedly repels/kills them but otherwise, you needed to buy stuff. I used some white vinegar in the laundry but pretty sure the hot water and laundry detergent was probably fine.

I then had to brush and pick off fleas from Angelus. Angelus has 2 thick coats. He is the fluffiest beast I know.   Excellent. I was wiping a cloth with white/vinegar and water on him as well as picking the fleas off and drowning them. They were concentrated on his face and paws. Same as Storm.   I know they were poking around behind our shed while we were down there and I think the fleas have come from critters in the yard. We have a family of either raccoons or skunks living under the house. I hear them sometimes and Angelus knows there is something under the deck as he tries to dig under there if left alone in the backyard. Which is why he is not allowed.

So off I went in search of a natural flea repellant and killer. It uses peppermint oil and other oils that apparently fleas hate. Turns out Pet Club had it. As I was looking at the various products they had (a whole aisle) I overheard the worker telling 2 women about flea control. He is describing the benefits of Frontline and other topical stuff for dogs. But then he is adding how the fleas need to bite the dog to die. So you need a repellant in addition to the topical. I have never had to use this. I guess the coastside has fewer fleas because it’s never really warm enough for them to thrive. And Tahoe has no fleas. Another reason to live there.

Anyway, he says to them “the stock market has been down almost 1000 points lately. Do you know what this means? It means people lost a lot of money. Then you have people who have lost their jobs. This means they have no money. You know what they give up? Pet care. And not food – but flea control.”  I think to myself “Ok, CNBC market commentator/Pet Club guy? Really?” But Ok…he’s not wrong either.

He goes on to say we might put topical control on your pets, but others may not. And then think of all the dogs your dogs meet and play with at the beach or in the park, or the cats that go through your yard, or the wild animals that do, and all those animals could carry fleas. And the fleas will be there until they bite your pet. ARGH!

So I bought the carpet powder, the spray for the beds and the dogs and then the spray for outside.  I HATE bugs. HATE. And fleas and ticks are on the top of that list.  So I wanted to use everything I could to get rid of them. It smells a bit but the dogs didn’t seem to care when I put the spray on my hands and them rubbed in into their fur.

So then this morning, I went out and sprayed all of Gypsy’s trees and then all around her house. I get inside and see about 5 fleas on me. ARGH!!!!!!!!! Because let’s be real here – all of the animals are flea protected and I just sprayed repellant on everything so if you were a plea – where would YOU jump? ARGH!!  I freak out once again (please be aware how much I truly I HATE bugs. Hate them. In a kinda sorta completely irrational kinda way hate. I would rather a bear was in my house eating all the food in my fridge.)

So I tear all my clothes off and throw them in the washer and turn on the hot water cycle and then go change. And then realize my iPhone was in my pocket. I yell out loud NOOOOO! And run to the washer. It was full. With hot water. And I stuck my hands in the hot water searching for the phone. Found it. On the bottom of the washer. And my right hand/lower arm seem a bit scalded. Phone is done. So I need to go buy one on Monday. Driving over the hill and getting annoyed by tourist traffic to do it over the weekend will just be rubbing salt in the wound.

So the fleas have cost me $80 worth of flea products. $400+ for the new phone on Monday and a ton of stress and time. The money is an annoyance. The stock market took far, far more of my money this week. But the stress pissed me off.  And the feeling of ARGH upsets me. I will now go through another day thinking bugs are on me and mentally freaking out.

This could have been an episode of I Love Lucy. This seems like a ridiculous Lucy and Ethel kind of situation. So Happy Birthday Lucy. You wear 100 well.

And yes, fleas, and the people that might not use flea control, are the scourge of the Earth to me today. Fuckers. Obviously wild critters who just happen to get fleas can’t be blamed. And I can’t go around buying them all Frontline. THAT would be a good Lucy episode though. Or maybe more Laverne & Shirley.

Sigh. Is it too early to open a bottle of wine?

It’s #mobweek on AMC. They are showing The Godfather right now. It’s clear I will get less done today. A lot of running around during commercial breaks!

The Godfather series is in that select group that I will watch a gazillion times and just leave on whenever they are playing even though I have the DVDs. And Godfather part one is on my favorite movies of all time list. Love Michael.  And yes, I will still leave Godfather part 3 on even though it’s not in the same league. Still has Michael Corleone and I think Andy Garcia and George Hamilton are fantastic in it too.

Goodfellas, Scarface and Casino are great. But The Godfather is the crown jewel of mob movies. Period. But later when they play Goodfellas, I will probably leave that on too :) But they are playing tons of good movies all week. I should record the entire week! I hope they do this annually like Shark Week!  :)

When I imagine my trip to Italy that I WILL take some day, I imagine being able to walk around a lot in the sunshine in sundresses to little towns and get food and wine like Michael does with his bodyguards. I kinda doubt it’s really like that (simple and quiet) anymore but who knows. Maybe? This would also allow the caloric intake to be justified!

AMC is running mob tidbits with the commercials. Henry Hill, other relatives of old mobsters, crime reporters, former detectives, etc. Hysterically, Rudy Giuliani is hosting AMC’s Mob Week.  I assume he won’t be running for any office again?

One of the bits showed the Cosa Nostra org chart – very clearly lays out Boss and then Underboss. Storm says “See!!! I am the Underboss!!! I’ve always said that!!! Angelus is the boss and I’m the Underboss and all the other dogs on the beach or in the dogpark need to respect our chain of command!!! We are the Siberian fluffy mob! Mom, let’s get that org chart and hang it up!!”  He totally just said all that to me…

:)