blind faith... & all the children are insane!

Yesterday was very difficult for me, & I couldn't get any work done; mostly, I watched the Buffster kick ass with my wife again (she's so popular). Trish stayed home from the Perky Pam Layout Tuesday, as she always does when it's her day off, beyond shot-day. The cool blue ice of haldol... in my blood & in my head; hers, too. I got there in time to sign up for a chore, & went upstairs to talk to Karen, as I needed some grocery money: Trish had to miss a paycheck from taking time off from work when she found out about her MS. Then I returned downstairs; it's the same old story, all of them are incapable of talking above the head of a child, & this is certainly true of the nursing school dropout who runs the Layout--or did she flunk out? I busied myself as best I could on the computer, after prying Charlene away from it, when all of a sudden when I got up I heard a crack: one of the baby's toys had been thrown on the floor. Cheri started yelling at me to be more careful & I blew up at the dumbfuck, as I'm blind in one eye & have lost most of the vision in the other; what little vision I do have is only 20/60, & that's only 2 right on that line. So Cheri started once more displaying her frightful ignorance--think of the travesties that would've been unleashed had she actually graduated nursing school--& told me to "ask someone" about the goddamn stupid fucking toys that have no right to be there in the first place. I told her that 1/2 the time I'm lucky I don't step on the goddamn baby. Since she was being an ignorant pig I left the place in fear & loathing, walked home, & ate at the Soup Kitchen with Trish. Karen called in the afternoon, but told me not to call Cheri a bitch anymore, which is, OK, maybe I shouldn't say it, but that doesn't stop her from being one, nor from being stupid. I decided to stay away from the Center for a week, & maybe go back after I get my shot & after Trish's trip to Great Falls, which means I won't be back until a week from today. This morning I called my eye doctor & asked him to talk to Cheri for me, not that it'll do any good, she's uneducable as well as being ignorant. Anyway, the incident has put me in a real bad mood--brightened a little by Hope; she sent me a letter. I know she knows what an asshole Cheri can be, so I'm writing right back, now that Trish is at work.

& so it goes.

busy week

Monday we went down to the City of Electric Night to see the neurologist, Dr. Astle, whose name does not rhyme with "castle". Car-girl took us in her bat-mobile, & we learned that Trish is only in the "possible" stage of MS right now. The MRI is consistent with MS, but she shows no symptoms. She's having some more tests Tuesday, & then we'll know more. We ate at the Golden Corral's all-you-can-eat buffet, then took off like a rocket-man. Got home on time.

Trish took her driver's test this week, but flunked, badly. They did give her a 6 month extension on her permit--for a fee. She also returned to work Wednesday, even though she got chewed out by her boss for taking so much time off.

My brother Joe sent me his old electrostatic headphones, but I don't have them jacked in yet. They have to be wired to the amp, & it's dark behind the entertainment center, so I haven't been able to isolate which pair of wires goes to the B speakers. Jeffer Auss took a look, & suggested we buy a flashlight, which we bought at the Invisible Dollar Store, but I can't read the labels--20/60 vision strikes again. I decided to simply unplug the suspected wires, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I've started yet another re-make/re-model of Mindstorm, to try to find a traditional publisher for it, as I'm dissatisfied with iUniverse. I'm about 1/3 of the way thru, & have decided to add a couple chapters.

catching up with my blog

It's been a busy week, sort of. I can't remember everything we did; it started with being driven to the Invisible Fargo by Car-girl to see Dr. Astle, whose name does not rhyme with "castle", to be told that there are 3 stages to MS: possible, probable & certain. Trish is in the possible category, & needs more tests, so we are returning to the City of Electric Night (just another lost angel) to have a vision test done Tuesday. Also, Trish flunked her behind-the-wheel test, but in a way, I'm glad: she was pretty reckless while learning, & even collided with a pole in the bank parking lot. She did return to work Wednesday, even though she almost got fired for taking so much time off, worried about her MS, which is a lucky thing she found a doctor sooner than June 17, when she was scheduled to see the other doctor; the suspense was killing both of us. Also, Joe (no relation to Nobodaddy) mailed us his old electrostatic headphones, which I haven't jacked in yet. I can't see very well behind the stereo, so Jeffer Auss suggested a flashlight; still no good with my 20/60 vision, but just pulling the wires one at a time should isolate which speaker is which.

car, vroom! vroom!

Yesterday, Trish & Trisha, & myself, went driving in the bat-mobile, former bum hideout in the alley. We went up to the Invisible Clinic, to pick up her excuse to return to work, then did some parallel parking. Everything went smoothly, up to the point where we went to the license bureau. I went to the bathroom while Trish & Trisha went to sign up for the behind-the-wheel test. When I got out of the Atrium john the examiner was asking Trish for insurance & registration, so we had to go home. When we arrived Trisha realized we'd been driving without registration, so we had to go to the bank & courthouse. Trish panicked in the bank parking lot & ran into a pole. The car was damaged, a little, but not too bad. After that, I told Trish to take the test next week -- which will be her last chance, but she was too shook up to do any more driving that day. I treated her to El Taco Loco & we watched the Buffster all evening -- McRonald's screwed her over on returning to work -- not for 2 more weeks, so I'm encouraging her to find something closer to home, especially if she can't get her license, for next winter. Albertson's is hiring but hasn't contacted her yet about her application. & so it goes.

dentist the mentalist

Yesterday (Tuesday), Trish & I both had appointments with the dentist in Malta, which is about 90 miles from here. We had to travel so far because nobody in Invisible City accepts Medicaid any more. Trish had to go all the way to Helena to have (all but 5 of) her teeth pulled several years ago, because of this. Our appointments were for 9:00-12:00: they had a large block of time & both of us needed quite a bit of work done--I initially made the appointment cuz I had a busted tooth, & Trish had some chipped teeth & cavities.

Since Trish doesn't have her license, & even if she did would hesitate to take the car out on Dawn's highway (might see some Indians bleeding), we had to give Chef Boy-r-Bryan the money from Medicaid transport (which only allows 13 cents a mile) to drive us out there--which meant waking up at 6;00, something Trish had trouble doing. So did I, as after we got the news about Trish's MS I wasn't able to sleep for several nights. Trish had awakened me at 4:20 the night before & I turned into Cranky Bear (I was soooooooo angry at being woke up) & it really scared her (now she can see what it did to me), so Monday night I was finally sleeping when the alarm went off. (I slept well last night, too, so I think I'm over my insomnia.)

Bryan picked us up at 7:30. Trish napped in the car most of the way out & the way back. When we arrived they took me in first & fixed my tooth with a cap, but I have to come back in a couple months for a couple fillings. Same goes for Trish. While Trish was in seeing Dr. Veseth they cleaned my teeth, then hers, too, which didn't take as long, as she only has 5. When we reached home we ate lunch at Taco Treat & watched a bunch of DVDs & TV.

Trish goes back to work today & will be driving again this afternoon. She wants to take her behind-the-wheel test tomorrow. She's also very excited about possibly working for Albertson's, which is only a block away, as opposed to the mile for McRonald's. She's also excited cuz dem legalize marijuana, at least for medical purposes, & MS is one of the big medical marijuana illnesses.

Monday, Analog sent me another rejection slip, this time for a 2nd Ted co-authored story, this one a short, humorous piece, of which my share was mostly the Friendlies & the orgasm-death. I'm going to advise Ted to send it to Ellen Datlow, as she pays muchly, even though it'll probably come back with a form letter; the woman is apparently incapable of recognizing talent the way Stan & Gardner did. But she pays beaucoups bucks, so it's worth the postage.

BTW, I skimmed David Dalglish's shit on Critters & that's exactly what it is: shit. I'm not going to tell him that, though, as he'll complain to ye olde Critter Cap'n, but I really hate it when bad amateur authors post comments that show that they don't have the slightest idea understanding what they've just read, challenge you to read their "excellent" writing, & then it turns out to be -- well, shit. I mean, this guy's style is inappropriate for the subject matter, his dialogue meanders all over the place, he has no grasp of symbolism or poetic metaphor, & the title & the endng it implies are both cliched. I'm eagerly looking forward to Saturday, when the crits are posted, to see if anyone trashed his story, the way it should be. I'll be working on Noc-Lar until the rough draft is finished, then reading the rest of LOTR & Jung's Psychology & Alchemy to refresh my understanding of my own symbolism.

not one of Jerry's kids

This has been a strange daze for the two of us, starting last week, almost exactly a week ago, & continuing, VADIS & unabated, with a girly-girl/boy-chick who no longer has noncorean breasts -- ie, my Beautiful Bumblebee Girl. When Trish had her seizure last year, Dr. Huffman did an MRI, among all the other tests that he did while she was in the ICU. One of them, the MRI, showed small lesions in her brain concerning which, Doc Larocque-&-Roll determined insufficient to refer her to a neurologist over. However, time passes & things change. This new MRI showed MS (which Trish thought was Jerry's kids; man that bozo has gotten fat). She took a week off from work, but is handling it pretty well. Trish is especially excited that she may be hired at Albertson's, which is just down the street from us, so she wouldn't need to worry about walking there or finding a ride in the dead of winter -- or paying for gas, once she has her driver's license.