Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: November 2024

  • Mouse Detective

    A few weeks ago the Rottler exterminator came out to do the maintenance for our plan, and she was very personable, so I mentioned that we seemed to have mice. I knew this because: Intermittent mouse poop in basement Noisy mice in walls Goldie caught three mice in the basement The woman set out an…

  • Looks like I picked the wrong millennia to try to write a book

    I hate AI. It’s going to do to writing what photography did to art.

  • UPDATE; Weekly Paint Progress: 11/28/2024

    This week Granceil went from this: …. to this when she was originally this. But then I worked some more and now I’m stopping.

  • New Dentist Technology

    My space-age high technology dentist has yet another device. The hygienist said, “We have a new, less invasive way to clean your teeth called ‘Airflow’. It’s really good at getting below your gums.” “Awesome,” I said. Then she said, she would protect my face with a dental dam, then paint my teeth with a purple…

  • Hardest thing I have ever done

    During the last sixteen years, if you had asked me “what is the hardest thing you have ever gone through,” I would have said, “Mom’s hospice.” That changed this year. Now I would say, “Gary’s rash.” And I know that sounds ridiculous, but here’s the difference: Mom didn’t lie to herself. She believed her doctors.…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: Bonus Edition

    Granceil is so hard. Gary, from the front, blue sweatshirt, nailed it the first time. Granceil, three quarters, requires weekend work, because I know she is in the basement judgjng me. So this weekend Granceil went from this; … to this: She is grey and elongated and she has developed sideburns, but her eyes are…

  • TWIL: Clinical trials gone wrong

    I am now officially finished with the Supernova monoclonal antibodies clinical trial. I suppose I blind myself to bad news about trials because the next thing I did was ask ChatGPT about clinical trials gone wrong. (I feel the need to disclose that AI helped with this post.) I knew about some trials: the Guatemalan…

  • More Oak Island

    I saw the promo for the new season of Oak Island. “Ugh,” I thought, “why is this show still on?” Then I remembered I could fast-forward through most of it, but as it turns out, I am forced to watch commercials now for some reason. I spent more time enduring the commercials than this show.…

  • Gary’s Skin Doctor Visit

    I know that when there is an illness and there is an information void and no sense of control, people fill the emptiness by self-diagnosing. Gary (and I) have looked to see if the source of his rash might be nightshade allergies, balsam of peru, folate deficiency, and of course the original: drywall dust. Recently…

  • After forty years, a short-lived mature conversation

    Gary is miserable with this skin condition. He can’t regulate his temperature, it itches, it burns, it bleeds, he hurts on the outside and aches on the inside. And because he expresses himself, he wakes up and makes noise. A symphony of moaning and muttering. And then often groaning. Usually I wake up and call…