tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36529572024-03-18T12:22:25.034-07:00Thumper Thinks Out LoudThumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.comBlogger2454125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-77398732527628980222024-03-16T15:08:00.000-07:002024-03-16T15:08:03.058-07:0016 March 2024 20 January 2020, the day I got this bike. About 8,000 miles and 12 pounds ago. Someone please come take those 12 pounds, please.I skipped the meds last night, and for the first time in who knows when, the sleep fairy hasn't punched me in the face yet today. Am I tired? Yes. Could I fall asleep if I crawled back in bed? Also yes. But I don't feel like I will die if I don't take a nap.Today Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-78578623386728452052024-03-13T22:23:00.000-07:002024-03-13T22:23:57.898-07:0013 March 2024Blowing a little dust off the blog... Ok, so what's 4 months of silence amongst friends? I truly did not intend to let it go this long; there were a whole bunch of days when I opened the computer intending to write, but then things happened and nothing writery happened. So it goes.I mentioned back in July that we had a new doctor who was taking my chronic pain seriously; she prescribed Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-91168123707231116602023-11-04T10:37:00.000-07:002023-11-04T10:37:00.305-07:004 November 2023Blog Blast for Peace 2023 Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-88974241762319304242023-10-29T12:01:00.004-07:002023-10-29T12:01:57.742-07:0029 October 202321 years ago I had a tumor yanked out from the underside of my brain via my sinuses. Yes, it was painful. I spent the 3 days following surgery on morphine, then Percoset, and they sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin, and stressed that I needed to fill it. So, fill it I did, with the Spouse Thingy's help because I couldn't stand there long enough to hand it over to the pharmacy tech. WhenThumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-25842811054933503952023-09-22T14:17:00.002-07:002023-09-22T14:17:58.602-07:0022 September 2023 Last weekend, I decided it was time to stop "bedtime" and let the little monsters have run of the house at night. No lie, I really expected it was going to be horrible for a couple of weeks and I would get zero sleep, but they surprised me.First night was confusing for them, I'm sure. At "bedtime," when I went into their room to put out fresh food and clean the litter box, CJ tried to herd Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-11661312030273527802023-09-16T13:23:00.000-07:002023-09-16T13:23:13.272-07:0016 September 2023 Yesterday Ozzy discovered the uppermost UP. She's since spent a lot of time up there, walking across the top of the tall bookcases, to the TARDIS, then back, where apparently she has decided to take down the curtains.I don't disagree with her on this; we've talked about taking them down since CJ climbed them. They're old, snagged repeatedly (Buddah), and we never close them so they might asThumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-33268972862125127982023-09-05T23:26:00.000-07:002023-09-05T23:26:07.944-07:005 September 2023 We have become Those People. The people who buy the cats a stroller and take them for walks around the neighborhood, lapping the small park, talking to them the whole time to assure them that everything is fine and ISN'T THIS FUN???Every now and then one of them responds, usually CJ, and he sounds small and confused despite being large and quite centered for a 5.5 month old.I keep Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-47400418799123669082023-08-28T18:08:00.000-07:002023-08-28T18:08:08.796-07:0028 August 2023Back in January, I wrenched my back. Badly. Pile on top of that my day to day back pain, and I could barely move. Like, just getting out of a chair was agonizing and I often needed help because halfway up was about all I could manage.That also meant I could not ride, not at all. Or take walks. Or really...anything.But then came a new doc and some new meds, and I can move. It still hurts but not Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-80889034477623962072023-08-13T20:50:00.001-07:002023-08-13T20:52:03.236-07:0013 August 2023I plopped down in my recliner last night to pound out a post about the cats, because they amuse the snot out of me and are cute as hell. But, I checked my email before I did, and after that, I just did not feel like it.There was email from my editor's address, and I clicked on it without reading the subject header. I wish I had, so I could brace myself.It was from her grandson, Brian. He Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-66546021092689636602023-07-11T22:18:00.004-07:002023-07-11T22:18:31.695-07:0011 July 2023 Odds n Endz #624,899.9536I've been working on a manuscript, and because it's been so long since the start of the series, I needed to go back and read them again.Kinda wish I hadn't, because it's left me with a conundrum and a problem to figure out.I got to The Space Between Whens, and realized with horror that what went to print was not the final draft. The file used was likely the first Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-64110279027742536202023-06-23T11:15:00.000-07:002023-06-23T11:15:07.861-07:0023 June 2023 It would have been nice if the kitties had been able to come home with us the day we adopted them, but I understand why not (they needed to be neutered, and you just can't trust people to bring them back to get it done...) And the delay is giving us time to better prepare for them.Many years ago, we turned the spare room into Max's room. There was a sofa and love seat because he was an old Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-29492367393786862212023-06-20T15:47:00.000-07:002023-06-20T15:47:42.421-07:0020 June 2023That today would have been Max's 22nd birthday was not on my mind when I woke up this morning. Mostly what I thought when I rolled over and opened my eyes was "Oh, gawd, it's not even 7 am," and then "Finally, I can pick up my bike today."One of my e-bikes has been in the shop for 5 weeks; the pedal assist just kind of didn't work, and given how pricey these bikes are, I really wanted it to work Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-14875488726521882132023-05-29T12:42:00.000-07:002023-05-29T12:42:16.462-07:0029 May 2023Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of my mom's death. I spent the day feeling about 90% of all the feelings; I didn't say anything on Facebook, or anywhere else, because I didn't want any sorrow-laden responses (and I still don't, so...) mostly because though I was feeling all the feels, it wasn't predominantly sadness. A large part of what I mused on was what the parents were up to, Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-38892572404917876312023-04-28T12:10:00.001-07:002023-04-28T12:10:52.600-07:0028 April 2023Holy fark, I did not realize how much dust has accumulated on this blog. It was not intentional; if you'd asked me, I would have said that it had been a month or two, max. I mean, I'm egotistically verbose...how could I go that long without hopping online and whining?Then I remembered Facebook exists, and I've probably done my fair share of whining there. Then I also realized that I haven't done Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-31895121576101750752022-11-14T22:54:00.003-08:002022-11-14T22:54:34.475-08:0014 November 2022 I post a lot of memes on Facebook. I have 126 albums loaded with somewhere between 200-215 images each, just things I've run across online over the years. These memes might amuse me, confuse me, upset me, or a mix of all. They might be intended to spur discussion, or they might be there because I know someone in my friends' list will get a kick out of it.I used to post 2-3 times a week, andThumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-58329916494369108662022-11-13T13:05:00.000-08:002022-11-13T13:05:15.473-08:0013 November 2022He's been gone 2 years, today. Which means Buddah has been gone 2 years, 5 weeks. Yes, I'm still keeping track. I will for a few more years, I think. I miss them horribly, still, and I don't think you ever get over the loss of your heart pets. I had pets before these two: Ataturk, Dusty, Hank, and I loved the hell out of them and miss them, too, but there was something about Max and Buddah. Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-34110387239027252352022-11-11T12:55:00.000-08:002022-11-11T12:55:16.704-08:0011 November 2022 Thumper's moment of OMGWTF:For background, it helps to know that Max was trained to weigh himself. If he went into the bathroom with me, which was pretty much every day, before I'd open the door to let him back out, he had to step on the scale. It was right next to the door; most of the time he did it because he was in a position to bolt out when the door was barely cracked open, but it Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-75489482429708419622022-11-10T18:43:00.001-08:002022-11-10T18:43:41.508-08:0010 November 2022The wind sucked out of my blogging sails; I fully intended to blog as many days this month as possible, but then a Big Bad Awful happened, and my heart was not in it.On Sunday, my son's dog Butters--known to Max's friends as That Damned Dog Butters--was helped on his way to the Bridge. The Boy knew several days ahead and took time off work to spend that time spoiling the hell out of him, which isThumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-44152872762646073662022-11-04T00:00:00.001-07:002022-11-04T00:00:00.158-07:004 November 2022 Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-37982731388770754732022-10-31T11:50:00.000-07:002022-10-31T11:50:16.523-07:0031 October 2022 Instead of Starbucks, I'm sitting at home, waiting for Jesus, who is delivering a Christmas tree purchased from Costco. Jesus called me at 7 a.m., which is fine despite the fact that I am not a morning person and am typically not awake at that time...which also made me wonder what the point of having a Do Not Disturb setting on my iPhone when it does, in fact, allow calls from people who Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-71990854137171429712022-10-30T12:29:00.002-07:002022-10-30T12:29:57.892-07:0030 October 2022For the first time in a very, very long time, I'm sitting in Starbucks with the intent to get some work done. I have my Passion Tango Iced Tea (or perhaps it's just passion tea now? They messed around with things), my laptop, and the completed first draft of The Lost Boys of Everywhen to work on. It's only semi-busy here, with just the right amount of background noise and the music doesn't suck, Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-46154540333606068192022-07-30T14:13:00.002-07:002022-07-30T14:13:25.177-07:0030 July 2022So what have you been up to in the bajillion days since you last posted, Thumper? Threes of people really want to know.Largely, this: I finished the vomit draft of the next Wick book. It's super raw, way too much dialog and a whole lot of "he shrugged," "he snorted," and "he turned to X person." All placeholder crap for the actual first draft, which I'll start working on...checks watch...in Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-87480586172524632162022-06-25T12:45:00.000-07:002022-06-25T12:45:13.615-07:0026 June 202220 Years Ago...Two decades. It alternately feels much longer and just a while ago. But 20 years ago, right about this time of day, I was in a wicked amount of pain, despite the morphine I was given (over my I DON'T WANT TO STOP BREATHING objections.) One should expect that after getting a brain tumor removed, but my stupid asterisk likely (I don't really remember now) thought that I would avoid Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-88106018074121675262022-05-25T13:59:00.000-07:002022-05-25T13:59:06.203-07:0025 May 2022<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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<![endif]-->I would not have a child today.
If I were young enough, no matter how much I wanted to, I
would not have one.
I know the pain of infertility; I know the Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3652957.post-60950532511446324512022-05-19T19:22:00.001-07:002022-05-19T19:22:49.564-07:0019 May 2022<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Thumperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154314376352066709noreply@blogger.com1