Well, it's .. sorry, what year is it? MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
81

That sounds just horrible, she has my sincere sympathy.

Most folks who develop milk allergies late in life do not experiment, which is super understandable. If cheese suddenly stabbed me in the gut, I would never be able to look at a gallon of milk the same.

So…do you know which protein she is reacting to? There are ways to remove the casein (the protein in the curds) and then force the whey proteins to do the heavy lifting. I have seen casein free cheese at a specialty shop so I know someone is producing it commercially. I didn’t really care for it, it had that acid aftertaste you can sometimes get from cheap store bought cottage cheese, but if it was the only cheese I could eat, I would get over the aftertaste.

Has she tried a small bit of aged parmesan since her allergies developed? If she was able to tolerate that, if would indicate that she is having issues with the whey which is the second most common cause of dairy allergies.

Has she tried a small bit of reconstituted powdered milk? The proteins in powdered milk have been changed during the cooking process enough that most cheese makers don’t considered powdered milk to be real milk.

As I understand, those are the “usual suspects” when it comes to dairy allergies. There are other things she could be reacting to, but proteins seem to be a common theme for her.

Am I asking too many personal questions? You can tell me to pipe down and I will, I just have so much sympathy for folks who suddenly can’t have cheese after a lifetime of enjoyment.

82

Nah, I appreciate your interest. She can’t tolerate whey. “Later in life” is less salient than “caused by medical intervention.” She can manage a teensy bit of aged parmesan every once in a while. Fortunately, she is okay with eating the nut/oil cheese substitutes (we refer to them as “chiz”).

83

I did my daughter the favor of having her spawn run around the playground for at least an hour. They should crash early for her. I called FCD - he was taking his mother back to the apartment. Once he gets home, we’ll talk about the next few days/weeks. I don’t expect to see much of him during the week, but I can go down to the apartment on the weekends. I need to know what they’ll want to do about food, among other things.

I got a load of laundry done today and I just finished putting it all away. The kids wore me out - chillage is definitely on my evening agenda.

84

I must say, my first day back in the office after a week off wasn’t bad: no fires to put out, I was able to go sit in the kitchen and read during lunch, etc. I think it helped that I logged in for an hour on Friday evening and got caught up so I could draft my weekly report (which got waived on 12/23, but not last week). It was good to be able to enjoy the long weekend knowing that everything was under control, and it was nice to not dread starting Outlook this morning!

My post-op support group is meeting in person tonight, but I’m feeling ever-so-slightly sinus-y and would rather just stay home. I’ll aim to make it to the February in-person meeting, though. I hope whatever this is only has to do with the suddenly warm and damp weather, and isn’t the start of something worse. I have therapy on Thursday morning and plans to surprise someone on Saturday evening, and I don’t want to have to cancel either! :crossed_fingers:

Time to go let the doggy out and feed her, then figure out what I want to feed myself for dinner. Maybe pizza, but maybe taquitos…either way, some popcorn will follow! :popcorn:

I had a peanut butter and grape jelly Uncrustable for lunch. :slight_smile: They also make 'em with strawberry jam, but I’ve never tried one; I’ll have to get a box someday.

85

Well, so much for vacuuming today. My vacuum officially doesn’t suck. Literally. It’s just pushing the fur and dust bunnies around. Since replacement filters for this one can no longer be had, I’ve ordered its successor, which will allegedly be here tomorrow (Walmart seems to be pretty on the ball processing the order, let’s see how bad shipping is). I’ve already confirmed that filters for the new one are easily obtained from Amazon (and I’m going to buy at least a couple of packages), as well as being designed for wash-and-reuse endurance. This will be an improvement.

My roaming box of books has arrived and the contents shelved appropriately, so I’m relieved by that. That box traveled more in about a week than I have in 53 years! (Not that I’m that fond of travel anyway.)

Bracing for a new round of storm activity for the next couple of days.

86

Howdy Y’all! We have supped the leftovers and the kitchen is cleanded up. Both of us have a gnawin’ and a cravin’ for fried chikin, so methinks two fried chikin dinners from the Pubic sto’ will make their way into the the buggy (southern for grocery cart) whilst provisions are procured tomorrow. I make good fried chikin, but so does the Pubic sto’, so I shall let them do the honors. We are under a tornado watch and the threatened rain/tstorms/apocalypse should begin anytime now.

Nettie glad the books are there after their cross country tour. Sorry about the rollsuck not doin’ good, but yay for quick replacement.

Cookie I wake up every mornin’ and remember I am retired. Then I smile and have coffee.

87

Howdy all. I had a very sinus attack like day. After multiple kinds of pills and nasal spray it’s finally settling down. I have already took Mel and benedryl so hope sleep happens soonish. I have a headache too. Woe is me.

88

swampy, you make cornmeal waffles the same way that my dad does. :slight_smile: The Pubic Sto’ is a solid choice for fried chicken (their mac and cheese is decent too and mine tends to have fried okra in their deli).

JtC, the red butter sounds horrid. The food coloring is just one of the reasons that I don’t like red velvet cake. It has a bad aftertaste. I used to make butter once in a while and it tended to be a yellowish white; nothing like commercial butter that has food coloring added too.

Mooooooom, I grew up with a tractor tire sandbox. Dad filled it in the spring, after the biggest part of the rain was past and it would be good all summer. When I drove a pickup truck, I always bought a couple of 70# sandbags in the fall for weight. In the spring, I’d donate them to my niece for her kids’ sandbox.

I flashed today at irk because the other person who does it was out. Tomorrow, I should be back to wiping data from December’s remaining phones.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

89

{ clutches pearls }

My goodness, isn’t it a bit chilly this time of year for that sort of nonsense?

90

There are still people in my area without power from the storm this weekend, and a couple more are on the way, with tomorrow/Thursday projected to be as bad as this weekend was. Some weakened levees in the area, too.

So I’ve gone anxious squirrel, with a trip to a sporting goods store that yielded a portable camping stove, a battery-powered radio whose capabilities include NOAA, and a couple of other minor items. I have various foods that would be useful if we lose power (and of course bottled water) en route from two sources and may need to do another minor grocery run to fill in any gaps. Plenty of pet supplies on hand, biggest worry would be keeping Misty warm if we lost power.

91

Metalmouse, we have been watching the pool of water and it is indeed moving. Happily for us, it is on the other side of our meter, so not our responsibility. (I do remember your under the house leak, what a nightmare!) We haven’t gotten anymore rain but the ground is still super soft and I don’t want a backhoe churning things up so we haven’t called the water company yet. The guilt is starting to get to me so I’ll probably call tomorrow. We have already taken pictures of our yard so we can have evidence of their wrong doings if they mess it up and don’t fix it again.

While I do agree, in my defense I was thinking about how much worse it must be to lose something you have loved for years instead of never been able to enjoy it. “Is it better to have loved and lost or to never have loved at all?”

So, are you guys all mature, or do you shoot chez into each other’s mouths while giggling like 6 year olds? That’s how we do it…

Ain’t it nice? Sometimes I’ll go down the street just so I can look down the mountain at the interstate traffic and gloat about not being there.

Would something like this be helpful? You can probably get something the same at the sporting goods store. They put out a surprising amount of heat for such a small item, but I’ve put them in my gloves and haven’t burnt myself.

I’ve been watching your storms, I think it was smart to stock up like that. If you don’t use the stove this year, you will have it for later.

92

I actually bought some of those with the humans in mind, didn’t even consider using them for the bird, but that sounds like a great idea! DH also has a couple of electronic ones (USB charge), so if he doesn’t use them at work, they’ll also be available for Misty. The cats and humans can make use of blankets, and the humans have gloves and such available.

93

Ahem. We are dignified and sober with the chiz.

94

Have used exactly the same for my snakes. Not INSIDE the tub/tank (you do NOT want to deal with an adhesive emergency, whether scales, feathers, or fur) but shoved right up outside the wall next to their hidey-spot to warm their bedding.

95

The vet called, so I am a little relieved. Ripple’s EKG and blood work were good.
Surgery is still on for the 13th.
I asked if it could be done sooner, but the vet said no, as she is hoping the meds make the tumor shrink a little.
She also told me to stay away from Google as I am making myself crazy.

Waiting is hard.
Sometimes you just want to do it and get it over with.

We are supposed to meet with the lawyer on Jan 25 and there is no way my son can get a vacation day for that day. My friend told me to have him call in sick that day. I have never known a company that tells you, if you really need time off, just call in sick.
Every company I ever worked for gave you a bunch of shit if you called in sick.
I really don’t want to go, but it is three weeks from now, so I might feel different by then.

I’m just really pissed off that my niece slacked off and this is still going on. The lawyer told her to finish it up so that it didn’t go into another tax year.
Of course, if I say anything, she’ll just get pissy about it and take even longer.
Truth is, even though I’m not supposed to know much, NIece1 left her husband, moved in with a new old bf, and all she cares about is spending time with him.
It’s nice to be in love, but you don’t get to ignore your obligations.
So, the rest of us have to sit here on hold.

I had PT today, and I am always hurting afterwards.
I asked if I could please have a schedule where I go the same days at the same time each week. That seems to be impossible. They couldn’t even fit me in for another day this week. I like to go later in the day as it seems that parking is easier then. I have quite literally driven around the parking lot for 15 minutes trying to find a space. The parking lot is big too, there has to be more than 100 spaces in it.
At least I have made progress.

Ripple was so cute when I got back. Cerby is a little fool who whines and cries and jumps all over me. Ripple and Echo rush up with wagging tails, but they don’t get all crazy with the crying and jumping.
Ripple had brought the mail into the kitchen while I was gone. He picked up one piece and brought it to me. Then he ran over to the other piece and pounced on it and play-bowed all around it before picking it up and bringing it to me.
He is so proud when he brings me the mail.
Sometimes he can be a little shit and drop it where I can’t reach it, then I have to give him a treat to bring it the rest of the way.

I cannot imagine milking a zebra, and surviving the experience. They are supposed to be vicious little fucks. I’m lactose intolerant, but I can handle cheese as long as I don’t go too crazy. Ice cream is iffy, but since I don’t like it that much anyway, it’s not a problem. Every now and then I get a craving for it, like after I had pneumonia last year. All I could eat was ice cream and potato chips. Two foods I normally don’t care about, and they were the only things that didn’t make me feel sick.

I miss peanut butter. I’ve eaten it my whole life until a few years ago when I had a bad reaction. I had noticed before that that a little Reeses cup would make my throat scratchy.
Sometimes when I see the jar in the pantry, I want some. I stay away from it though; I won’t even use it to give the dogs pills.
Almonds make my mouth tingle, so now I try to avoid them too.

I use the Hot Hands Toe Warmers, they work well although you need to put them on the outside of your sock. I’ve never tried the hand warmers. The hand warmers I use have a usb plug.

96

Hi, everyone! I’ve been busy with uninteresting stuff, but I’ve read all. Did you hear all the comments I made while perusing?

Will do better tomorrow. A big chunk of the day will be taken up by getting to and receiving the usual injections, but I’ll try to hop on before leaving.

:heart: :orange_heart: :green_heart: :blue_heart: :purple_heart:

97

Evening all. It finally stopped raining long enough for me to get to the gym and push the bike pedals for an hour. More rain due in a couple hours, so we’ll have had a good soaking today. Tried to get some Argentina pesos from my bank today, a couple weeks ago they told me no problem, today they actually did some searching and said ‘nope, we can’t do that’, so will try Western Union tomorrow. I hate going into a new country without at least some of the local currency on-hand.

Sari, I really hope that inheritance thing can get resolved soon, it would take some things off your mind; and family can be a big distraction. At least the Ripple news is good.

Seanette, hope the storms don’t knock out power to you, but sounds like you’ve planned ahead for it. Best wishes. And my new camera should be here from Omaha by Friday, we’ll see if Brown can get it to me faster than your new vacuum…

A good night/morning to all and onward into Hump Day!!

98

Nods solemnly. Just as expected. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Oh, good thought, I will remember that. I’ve not had to use them for a pet, but we do have a box of them tucked away with our “just in case” stuff.

That is often very good advice. I’m glad you were able to talk to her about it, that must have made it a little better.

I’m hoping Ripple flies through his surgery and recovery and will be back to making you smile by delivering the mail in no time at all.

I think you guys are thinking about real Zebras like you see on National Geographic, not petting zoo Zebras. The workers give all of the customers some critter cookies as the customers get loaded into an open bus for the drive through the park. The Zebras LOVE the cookies and crowd around the bus for pettings and cookies. They are fat, fat, fat and used to being handled and hand fed. I don’t think the milking crew has many problems with them.

Today has been rather unsettled for us as well. VBC woke up not feeling well and GG just did not know what to do. He’d jump up on the bed and chirp at her and she would look at him and he would curl up on the other side of the bed. I think she is just having a bad day, it has been pretty cold and she has been trying to hack up a hairball. If she’s the same tomorrow, the vet will be called.

99

So, have I forgotten something? Did @Sunny_Daze go on vacation or something and I just forgot? Looking at her profile, it has been a couple of weeks since she last checked in and I’m starting to get worried.

Lily, has your lovely wife tried Moon Cheese type of snacks? They use some sort of vacuum process to remove all of the whey-holding moisture. They are fairly pricey, but very tasty and not bad health wise.

Oh, and I forgot to say that the meeting went well. I reminded the diner owner how important food presentation was and we agreed that people tend to eat with their eyes a good part of the time. Red butter is right out, but heart shaped molds will happen. I like making and serving fancy-pants butter pats, I’ll just toss the heart shaped molds in with the rest of them.

While my butter is better than any commercial butter out there, I do have to defend most of the commercial butter available. Milk makes a huge difference in the color of the butter or cheese. Some cows are bred just for the color of the butter. Most commercial creameries use milk from those cows, food coloring isn’t involved.

So, back to meeting. The friend with the goats was there so we were able to work those numbers out and I think we all can make enough money to make it worth our time. Unlike raw cow milk, raw goat milk is easy to pasteurize and if I watch the temp carefully, I can catch the cooling milk in time to start the fermenting process. (Raw cow milk is a picky bitch and I do not like using it.)

100

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.

Heck, I could get used to that. :wink:

{{{{Ripple}}}}
{{{{VBC}}}}