Back on the shingles thing, I had chicken pox late, at 18, and had a fairly bad case of it. Missed two weeks of school, still have scars down one side of my face, etc. When I was recovering and almost well enough to go back to school, my left arm went numb and tingly. My parents had left me home alone, since I was recovering so well, Dad had to go to work, and Mom got called in as a substitute teacher. (At my high school--and as a side note, there are few things as embarrassing when you're a self-conscious teenager as having a mother known as the mean substitute because she has an actual teacher's certificate, is strict and serious, and makes you do your work.)

So, there I am by myself, out in the country, freaking out because my arm is acting weird. I called the school, and they got Mom to come home so she could take me to the doctor. The doctor who could fit me in was the oldest doctor in our town clinic, 65 or so. He looked at the arm, checked the circulation and blood pressure, and generally confirmed nothing too drastic was going on...and then remarked that while he almost certainly wouldn't live to see it, he'd be interested to know if someday when I got shingles, they'd be focused on that arm. (His theory being that my symptoms were the virus settling into my nerves, and whether that has any scientific validity whatsoever I have no idea.)

I've had cats that were easy to pill,pocket, hide in food.(Pumpkin, many childhood cats.) I've also had horrific (Devi,Loki, MK) who are otherwise compliant..well, not Devi. I knew you was in trouble there.

I hate my mayor and police commissioner. So offended tonight.

I've had all my cats' medicine given in liquid form that I can mix with wet food. No trouble getting them to take it so far, but then they're little gluttons. Force feeding would be A Problem, as they object to being held or restrained (Jackson squirms, Molly turns into a furry buzz saw).

In happy news I got to meet my cousin's cousin's kid tonight! (She's no relation to me, technically, she's my first cousin's first cousin, but we have pictures of us from when we were two, and have hung out before--we call each other "cousin squared")). Her son is SO CUTE. Just adorable and so chill. Six months old, so he's a great age where he can sit and interact but isn't totally wiggling away to get down and crawl. Yay!

I had one case of shingles and it was enough to make me hope it never breaks out again.

The pain pills our vet prescribed for Kitkat were flavored or something because she ate them like treats. She cared not for the liquid meds I had to squirt in her tiny maw, though.

My comic book guy wants me to come work for him at the shop. GUYS: I COULD WORK AT A COMIC BOOK STORE. *breathes*

Ooh, Cash!

So good to read about your dad doing so well, Jilli!

Cousin squared is adorbs

I throw treats for the cats to chase. I wonder if I could trick 'em in to taking a pill that way. Once.

Is anyone paying attention to the ongoing police drama in Chicago? I listened to the Mayor's speech to the city council today. Rahm has had the cocky knocked off of him. You can hear the stress in his voice. Here's hoping he actually means the things he's saying and follows through.

Apparently shingles uses the same nerve paths set up by chicken pox. What's even freakier is that psoriasis uses those same nerve paths, so if you have chicken pox, you're susceptible to shingles. But there's a genetic component to psoriasis, so one's at risk for that only if one's predisposed.

Bodies are freaky.

I bet Burrell's link already covered this, but Chicken Pox and Shingles are the same, danged virus: Varicella. You catch the Chicken Pox version as a kid. Then, Varicella reignites as Shingles, when you're an adult.

And yes, it attacks your nerve endings. If you get on anti-viral meds very quickly, they can help, but that's a little hard to accomplish.

And also yes, if a Shingles rash breaks out near your eyes, get your tushy to a doctor.

Hi, my Buffistas. I hope you are well. I'm so sorry to hear about Ginger. What a love.

Is anyone paying attention to the ongoing police drama in Chicago?

Not as much as I'd like, but I've got a good excuse.

My sister's in-laws had to cancel a shopping trip to Chicago recently because of the protests along the Magnificent Mile. I wasn't very sympathetic to their plight. Like: 'oh noes, you can't shop. That's so terrible. So much more terrible than police killing black people. I don't know how you'll cope.'

Even worse? They'd already finished their Christmas shopping! SO THEY DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO SHOP. ARGH.

My sister's in-laws had to cancel a shopping trip to Chicago recently because of the protests along the Magnificent Mile.

They know the protest was only on the Mag Mile that one day, right?

Honestly, today it was much easier to navigate through and around the protest march when I was out getting lunch than it was to navigate the tourists when I was leaving at the end of the day.