Alwayshappy

What's happening with the world is just terrible, so I'm with you two. Trying to ignore most of the news. I read it, but I try not to read everything

Cat is still ill. The blood is gone, but he still throws up (now every day!), but it seems to have less impact on him. He throws up once and then goes on playing and eating we're really confused what's wrong with him. Even the vet is surprised. It may very well be an option that it's just part of him. We can try other food, but there are so many different kind of foods that we don't know where to start. The other cat is super healthy and they're both used to having food all the time (they don't eat more than they need), so changing food for 1 cat means we have to change a whole lot. Worth it if it works, but even the vet says it may not be worth the extra hassle/esp for the other cat. But we'll keep trying. Driving us crazy and tired though.

Gelfling

Nothing like a good reading during a break. I'm halfway through Margaret Atwood's The Heart Goes Last, which is both delightful and deeply troubling just like her usual speculative fiction is but very thought-provoking. Sometimes I have to stop myself from reading and sit and digest and think things through.
Not sure what my next one will be yet because I have a looong list.

What are you reading now?

And really is our life made different or better by all these ramblings? I don't mean that they shouldn't talk about it but they go on and on for days and the only tangible result is that the psychos who were hoping to make a name for themselves while blowing or otherwise maiming innocents are vindicated by the media exposure.

And it's not as if those idiots were not all over the web anyway, right?

Thanks

aww damn, that can't be good for him. Is he losing weight?

just like my nephew. Once he threw up in the car and that cracked him up and he went on playing. Now you just have to imitate the sound of him puking to make him laugh for an hour

Vets and doctors. They're really just guessing.

Just like kids would

Alwayshappy

Thankfully no weight issues so far. It's so strange: he throws up and then right after he continues to play and even to eat. The last few days it's like once a day that he throws up, at the exact same time mostly (around 12 PM). Sometimes in the evenings too, but if that happens he also just goes on with his schedule right after. He looks healthy, he still plays, has no problem keeping his food in at most times of the day....this afternoon another vet appointment. Yes, it's really like having kids I guess

Alwayshappy

Hmm, the cat got a diagnose! Pancreatitis Inflammation apparantly. I didn't totally get it, but the vet explained it to us in numbers. Most cats have a number around 3.0, while Rox was more around the 11.0 Poor cat. It's harder for him to process fats, so the advice was to give hime some new food. That advice came last thursday. Since then he hasn't thrown up yet, though we are sure it will still happen and I realise we're totally jinxing it now.

In other news: my book is nearly done, only a few pages left. Then a final read through.

And we have sinned. After promising each other that we wouldn't visit the States this year we booked a trip to the States two days ago We'll be in NYC from 9 to 16 September. We had originally planned to do a city trip in southern Europe, but we both started talking about NYC on the same day We realised we both really wanted to go. Saving is going better than expected, so it was doable. Decided on September, because of the weather, but also because we wanted to be in NYC for 9/11. There will be special memorials and they'll be playing with light in the evening (where the twin towers once stood). It's called the tribute of light. Some people find it strange that we'd want to be there as tourists, but that day didn't just change the USA, it also changed the rest of the world. It's not like we'll be standing there with a big laugh, you know?

Of course the flight already gave us issues We are flying with United. Never flew with them before internationally. They have a whole page where you can fill in your API information (passport info, place you'll be staying, etc), but every time we try to add something the page doesn't save the filled in info. Asked about it on tripadvisor and as far as I know it's a glitch. I shouldn't worry according to them, they promised it could be fixed when checking in online, or at the airport. Mailed United just in case. They tell me to let it go and not to worry, but that's just not who I am I need clarity, I need to fix these things asap, etc.

How are you doing Carla?

Gelfling

Damn. Poor kitty! Is there a way to control his fats intake with canned food or are you going to have to cook for him?

Wow. That must be thrilling! Has Jos read it?

Cool

I'm still having a problem with those celebrations. I get what they want to do. Life goes on and blah. And I think the memories of the victims, and especially all the first responders who died running into falling buildings to try and save others, should be honored but it shouldn't be a spectacle.

And somehow they should do more to celebrate the lives and deaths of all the soldiers who got killed in the never ending "conflicts" in Afghanistan and Iraq. They were there because of 9/11 (under that pretense anyway) but nobody wants to call attention to that. Not as good for PR.

Heh I guess they are having trouble filling seats since that video came out this year.

I'm good Ingmar. A bit busy but my ladybug will be here tonight. Just over the weekend but it's been over a month and last time was mostly me being there for her with her mom's emergency surgery so it was not exactly romantic downtime.

Any weekend plan?

Alwayshappy

The vet mentioned it would be chronical, but it can be controlled with the right food. Right now he's having a record; hasn't thrown up in a week (jinx), so it gives us hope.

Jos hasn't read it yet. I'm a perfectionst, I want it to be completely done once I show it to him. He'll be the first one to read it though.

I agree that they should do more for the soldiers who are dying all over the world, because of 9/11.

Happy to hear that you'll be together again this weekend. Hope the romance is there this time, but I'm sure it will Enjoy!

My best friend has his birthday on Saturday, so we're going to that. Nothing planned on Sunday. We were invited to Jos' dad (father day), but once we mentioned we already had big plans on Saturday and that we wanted to relax a bit (a sick cat kills your night rest ) his whole family came down on us (that sounds dirty - not intended) with a major guilt trip. ''The entire family is here.....'', ''we were really hoping to have the family complete for once, especially on fathers day...''. We didn't respond. If there's one thing we both have issues with is not being understood (they always seem to be judging us and our situation) and being guilt tripped. We even offered his dad to visit another weekend, but they didn't even appreciate that. We'll probably watch Despicable Me 1 and 2. Got them on 4K this week and with part 3 releasing in the cinema later this month...we want to be ready. Never seen them before.

wardengrill

Hi guys! How are you doing?


I just ordered Handmade's Tale, I heard so much about this book and this new Netflix series so I decided to read it.


Now I read some polish authors,mostly non fiction.


exactly it's just the same thing on and on and nothing really changes

PetiteFleur

Poor kitty, I hope he'll be OK!
I have 2 cats myself, they're 8 and 9 already, but still drive me crazy sometimes with their games Which is funny, because they're not really friendly with each other and kinda compete for my attention all the time: one could sleep on my lap and the other would just punch her to make her leave and take her place instead
I know some people believe cats are selfish and only need you to feed them (not pointing any fingers ), but with these two I see that it's not true, and it's not just wishful thinking When I return home after being away for some time, the first thing I do is give them food, but they don't start eating straightway, and instead they follow me everywhere around the apartment, even to the bathroom And purr
And I prefer to think of them as independent rather than selfish

I saw him as a joke myself up until the RNC

It's all the same everywhere: they're criminals, they bring drugs and they steal our jobs

It was obvious right from the start, when he praised him for being a strong leader and for having a high approval ratings
And as Obama said, it's easy to have 85% or so approval when you control the country's media, have journalists killed and jail political opponents.

Oh, and that is the strangest interview I've seen in awhile


Taking Putin's answers at face value, because "why would he lie?", what are you, a teenage fangirl?
"Putin has his own interest of Russia in mind" - right, the same way Hitler had Germany's interest in mind.
Meanwhile, Russia Day (a national holiday) in a nutshell:


I could kinda get it if the intention was to show that he's just a human being, a creature of our political system, and not some boogeyman or the center of the world's evil, but that doesn't negate the fact that he benefits from the system that was created around him. It doesn't matter if Nemtsov was assassinated in the center of Moscow by his order (which I personally don't believe) or by his buddy Kadyrov's, or it was someone else's initiative, the fact that it can happen 100 meters from the Kremlin, or that a journalist that criticized the government (especially 2nd Chechen war) could be killed on Putin's birthday (Anna Politkovskaya), and people who ordered it are still unknown/not disclosed speaks volumes.
And let's be real, him criticizing the US is not about exposing the problems in the world that he wishes to solve, it's all about the power play and his imperial ambitions
One must be really naive to believe that he's all for for cooperation with the West. Stone apparently didn't spend a minute watching our TV or reading our papers, because it's all about the whole world being against us and 'our way of life' and our traditional values (whatever the **** that is). It was Yeltsin who was often criticized for the "cooperation" with the West, among other things, as it was seen as weakness, and with Putin now we finally can show the world that we're the force to be reckoned with, and doesn't matter if we suffer economically in the mean time, it's more important to care about things spiritual than mundane

John Oliver had a good piece about it btw

Gelfling

back to daily life and the heatwave! How are you my peeps?

Fingers crossed and well, it's a kitty so it's easier to control what he eats than if he was a kid (good luck keeping the kids away from junk food)

I know all about that, trust me and I hope you are happy with it because that's what matters most. If you don't like what you write, it doesn't matter if everyone loves it.

yeah they don't care if you're there but if everyone is moving their schedule around to be there, you have to be there too. I know that attitude

I was happily surprised with the first one. Not so much with the rest of them. But I'm definitely going to the movies this week. Not sure what I'll see and I don't care. With 40°C, I'll be at the movies even if it's to sleep

It's on Hulu but it couldn't matter less I hope you like it. It's pretty good.

Historical books or something heavier?

And somehow when fires kill dozens of people, it's not exactly the same treatment because fires don't sell as well as terrorists.

sounds like cats alright

And I prefer dogs but hey, cats need cat people so good on you

Yeah the usual rhetoric. You should have seen the hilarious "programs" for all the Front National (and other extremist parties) candidates for the elections. They actually had big numbers on them. 14% more rapes! 38000 robberies every day! 10,000 new "immigrants" per week. And no source for these numbers, no correlation between any of them , not even any context (14% more rapes where? compared to when? ) but it doesn't matter, right, it's just for the morons who vote for them.
And they got their asses handed to them in the parliament elections

as if having over 80% approval ratings wasn't already a sure sign of dictatorship

Exactly. In a democracy, people will disagree with their leaders. Real popularity numbers are around 60-70%. More than that, and you know the numbers are fake or that people are afraid to tell the truth.

Oh and what the **** happened to Oliver Stone? I saw those interviews and I can't even get how he could have sunk so low. I already thought W. was a puff piece but this?

at worst, he's responsible for it, at best he's complacent. A healthy opposition is the root of democracy. If there is no real freedom of speech, I don't care if you have the best intentions and you're misunderstood, you are a dictator.

And the string of involvement from Russia via various hackers, media attacks etc in political affairs of other countries, like the US or France, shows that it's only about power.

ofc he does! But yeah you can tell why The Tweeter in Chief loves Putin. He *wishes* he could get away with half the **** Putin does get away with. He definitely has a fondness for dictators (including the President of China) because it's his dream come true.

Alwayshappy

Thank you! We haven't seen any improvement yet, but there's still a few things we can try.

Your cats sound cute Right there with you, they need a hell more than just food and a pet here and there. It's always super obvious that the cats missed us and they're incredibly happy when we play with them.

Heh. True. Though we often find him chewing on stuff he finds on the floor....and we keep a clean appartment

I'm very happy with it. You're exactly right. I don't mind if the book doesn't get published (or people hate it ), I'm just glad I wrote something I'm proud of.

Yup. We're just sick of being singled out too. Just because we care about different things than the rest of his direct family when one of his brothers can't come, because of stress (or whatever reason) it's no issue what-so-ever, but that's okay, because that stress comes from things that actually do matter to them

Jos actually decided to go there anyway (for his dad - not the guilt trip - tho I'm sure that played a part in his decision, I know him - he just doesn't admit it ), but when the cat had a relapse on Thursday he decided to stay home anyway. He hadn't told them he changed his mind, but when he called his dad on Sunday....well, the call didn't help matters. Jos even told him we really wanted to come on another date. His dad just answered with a ''yeah, we'll see'' and hung up on him. Ah, well, family issues. Everyone has them. You know for yourself unfortunately

We watched part 1 and part 2 this week. Enjoyed them both equally I think. Looking forward to part 3.

God yes, it's way too hot these last couple of days Ugh. Good reason to visit the cinema, we'll be doing the same we can stay there for the whole day if we'd want to, but even for us there's a movie/show limit per day

Never read the book, but the show is on my to watch list. Saw a clip that was posted...featuring Alexis Bledel. Always liked her on GG, but god, in just that scene she gets to act more than in the whole GG series And I'm saying that, while I truly loved her acting and character on GG too. Elisabeth Moss shines too, if I have to believe the reviews.

As cat owners it may sound weird, but I prefer them aswell. It's just that we're on the 8th floor.....and since we'd want a puppy it would still need toilet training. Not comfortable to do that on the 8th floor :lol I can only imagine the elevator disasters..

wardengrill

I will let you know


Not really historical, maybe some of them are,but mostly it's essays and reportages.

Also I recently read a book by an foreign correspondent about Italy and Italians, quite interesting

Gelfling

Light reading again

Any theme you like to look for or just random stuff you read about and are attracted to?

Italians are a different people, alright so I'm sure getting a "foreign body" perspective is interesting

is it fiction or a mostly auto-biographical effort?

Obviously there are a lot of control issues and power play going on. I hope Jos didn't take it too bad, especially since he was trying to do the right thing

Oh yeah. Back and forth. But I'm luckier than most because I have a twin who shares the load, and who I can talk to about those things and she'll always understand.

indeed. We hit 40C today (at around 6pm) and it is 28 outside now but in the apartment we can't seem to get below 30° and even with the fan on, it's too much.

yeah but now you have the magic card so at least there's that. I've been moving all my classes to the morning when it's still below 30 so I'll have free afternoons sweating at home. Tomorrow I guess it's Wonder Woman even though I didn't feel like watching it, I really don't want to go see The Mummy or a French movie

She's only in a few episodes but man, her story is intense and she does some great acting.

I'm still on the fence about Moss. The part is so complex, I feel like anybody would have gotten great reviews from it, but she's just too one-note.

yeah that's for sure. And that's the great thing about cats, they are so independent that they can be left to their own devices for hours, whereas a dog needs more space and attention.

Alwayshappy

Mostly fiction, but even then...writers mostly write what they know, so it wouldn't be that hard to notice any similarities to my own life. It's mostly a family story, with some mystery elements within.

Having a twin must make it easier, yeah. Good for you! I'm just happy it's going okay with my own sister aswell. No contact with my father and my mum died, so she's all I got. For a while it seemed like I was getting great in-laws, but they changed their colours very quickly

Damn, that's hot. Here we're complaining with 27 degrees inside. No airco, or anything though. That said, it's easier to handle the heat in this apartment than it was in our old one. Progress! Have fun at Wonder Woman I guess

Will Alexis be in S2 aswell? Don't know how her story wrapped in S1? Hope she returns. She deserves the platform to prove she can do more than just joke around in Stars Hollow I'm glad she is getting slightly more attention these days. I get what you mean about Elizabeth Moss. Some parts are written so well and easily that anyone can play them properly. Well, not everyone, but..

Ah, a few hours later now and I just read: http://tvline.com/2017/06/22/alexis-...ffred-regular/
Yay!

wardengrill

Nothing specific, altough I read a lot about post soviet states,about polish society..But if I find something interesting I give it a chance, usually


yes,this book is much darker than it looked at the beginning

and how are you doing these days?

Gelfling

Heh well, it's ok. You have Jos so they already gave you the best they had to give and you're not marrying your in-laws.

Yeah no AC here either. Some offices have it if they're in really new buildings or in older ones that had restoration and a high enough ceiling to get all the pipes and everything in. But most apartment buildings, even the new ones, don't have it. And obviously kitchens are hell right now.

Good for you! And that's a hard thing to know when you're visiting unless it's the summer already so it's just lucky.

I should have gone for the Mummy. I hate Tom Cruise but at least that one didn't pretend to be feminist. Ugh.

She shouldn't but since s2 is going to be the showrunner's own fantasy, apparently she's going to be promoted to a regular, which makes no ****ing sense whatsoever considering where we left her but whatever, she's got buzz

She's had interesting parts but she's not really proven her stuff. Violet & Daisy could have been the one part that was going to do it but Saoirse Ronan stole the movie from under her. And the other parts she got were mostly Gilmore Girls wannabe, except for Girl Walks into A Bar but that one was a very very small indie with a great cast that got mostly swiped under the rug.


it's more of a grab job, which works too.

Damn, and I thought it was going to be light reading! but then Italian society has a lot of skeletons in the closets, especially in the political world.

I'm good even though my Boo is gone back home and the first week is always hard. I'm working my routine and trying to plan the next escape. Vacations seem like a long time away but apparently still too close to get decent plane tickets to anywhere
Spain seems out but we're checking Italy and Portugal this weekend. France would be an option but with the heatwaves we've been having for 2 months and then July and August to go through, chances are we'll get to our vacation with an empty pool so
There are water restrictions after prolonged heat and it's totally understandable. Water is a commodity we take for granted in the Northern Hemisphere but it shouldn't be wasted. Still, that's not what we're aiming at when renting a house with a pool

How have you been, Kate?