Melrick

LMAO. Well, with a kitten, you look for what looks like punctuation marks at the testes aren't descended yet.

I also told her to have a poke around down there. She's bound to find something.

hehe yeah, like cat claws and fangs for the invasion!

3 hours in a hospital waiting room, so we're improving! And it is indeed 2 breaks. Also, thanks for your hugs and best wishes. I could do with a hug.

If only they could be live hugs, but you know you've got 'em from us virtually at anytime you need them!!

I wish so too. And thanks.

Hopefully I’m never cursed by one of these procedures, but now I know to opt for the sedation.

With rare exceptions, when sedation is offered, it’s like Yogi Berra’s fork in the road.  You take it.

Drugs are your friend, at least in these situations! lol

Here's hoping that won't be for a good while yet.

Your mom is lucky to have you Melrick. You're a good son!

Well... I'm not very good with compliments so I'll just poke my tongue out instead. :-P

I don’t know who Brienne is but I appreciate the offer. lol

Off topic, but you guys… giving NZ a run for their money… 

And as every right thinking Aussie said at that announcement: About bloody time!

The pace maker has been installed and it looks like she'll be coming home tomorrow. They didn't even need to knock her out to put it in. The things they can do these days.

That's wonderful news!

That's fantastic!

Have you relocated to the first level of hell by chance?

It sure as hell feels like it sometimes. And it's not even summer yet.

Egads, Mel - do not go outside!

Seriously… I’d be pissed at the shop for not checking both HDs thoroughly.

Damn… sorry Melrick. From bad to worse

If you can, backup your data.

Hopefully, she’ll get and feel the full benefit of the cooler air now… *hugs you both… after coming in from the sleet outside*

I know we have cooling centers here in the extreme heat, where the elderly and children can go to cool off in air conditioning. Is there any place there which might offer that for your mum’s sake?

I honestly wish I could channel some of our winter down your way, I really do. Those temperatures are simply madness.

If there is then I don’t know where they are.  Still, we’ve almost survived this summer now.  If this really is the worst of it over then I almost feel triumphant.  Mother Nature did its best to try and kill us, but it failed!

::hugs:: It certainly can, but we do the best we can for them.

How's your mum doing?

Doing better than she was. But the older a person gets, the harder illnesses hit them and the longer it takes for them to bounce back.

You should come to Australia, especially if you're not fond of snow. We also treat our politicians with the contempt they deserve.

yeah... The moonbats and crazies have descended. Australia and Canada seem pretty good. Anyone need a nurse who has training to deal with almost the full spectrum of issues?

Nurses are always welcome here.

Dear gods, man! You’d best keep us posted as to the results, although I imagine it’s going to make one hell of a photo album. 

I’ve had a few of those but never under anaesthesia. They usually give me a mild sedative that helps me relax, but I’m usually chatting away with the doctor and nurse, and watching the monitor while they do it. But I absolutely agree with you on the preparations. To describe it in a very vivid phrase, it’s like shitting the fires of Hell…   I’ll admit, the last two times I’ve gone in, my gastro told me not to prep, and I felt SO sorry for him. But he’s the expert, so he should know why he didn’t want the prep done…  

But please, keep us updated on the capsule’s journey, that will be a hoot to read, I’m sure  

Also, on a more serious note, I hope you get the all clear and that everything will be alright  

I’ll be sure to keep you all updated. lol

Sounds like a big pile of shit to have to deal with. I hope things improve for you somehow.

Jeebus Melrick.  Hang in there, things are bound to improve!

Okay, boobies do make most things much better, I’ll be honest.  Thanks @pippychick 

WTG Melrick!

Thanks. :-)

I'll tell you, I'm quite happy with the fact that if I want to read staff stuff, it's always going to be GOOD stuff. We're blessed with having excellent writers on staff except for me and Rogue of course

I probably wasn’t very clear in my reply. I’ve been feeling less than enthusiastic about my writing lately, but my co-authored stories are very enjoyable, and I look forward to writing with both my co-authors. The subjects of the stories are very different, yes, and the stories each have different styles, but I have no particular need to write in one style, so I enjoy that as well. I adore Pip and Willow both, and I’d be happy writing a shopping list with either of them.

Let’s start @BronxWench shopping list:

• Whips
• Chains
• Butter, both soft and hard
• Produce, lots of produce

You forgot wine and chocolate, @Desiderius Price

Oh dear. You have my sympathy!

Mine as well. At least it's legal to kill the cockroach.

Half of my family are Witnesses. Just imagine getting the recruitment speech every single visit... oh and they get more zealous with family

I will keep you in my thoughts Melrick!

Hang in there Melrick. My family knows this one all too well. BIL undergoing surgery Tuesday for recurrence.

Thanks. Even the threat of cancer is like an axe hanging over your head, suspended by a startlingly thin rope. And good luck to you too DG.

Sounds about like summer where I live. D: I'll wish for some of the rain we're having here to go your way. xP

I'm with Wench, I would trade you in a second over the cold!

send it my way

They're okay. Unless they bite you, in which case you stop being okay.

passes flamethrower for future use

I have a feeling we'll be having this discussion for a very long time. Spiders are NOT okay... ever. No shape, size or form... well, except dead form. Then they're okay.

I tried it for a couple of reasons: firstly, I'm a cheese lover; and because of the comments some have made about it being surprisingly nice. I now know these people to be insane.

Now if you like brie, Saint Andre is a nice triple cream brie...

what? blue cheese is nice. Stilton. or St.Agur... *feels v alone*

Excellent idea.  Drop bears need love too!

And really, even though eighty percent of the flora and fauna might kill you, it’s a lovely place!

It just adds a bit of spice to life. ;-)

You’re welcome to move… currently it is windy enough to make the rain come in sideways, and a balmy 1°C That’s 33.8°F for you temperature challenged folks  

@Melrick Steaks?  A little aluminium foil, and should be able to cook it as desired.

@WillowDarkling Oh stop, you’re making me jealous! lol

@Desiderius Price  That would have probably worked.  Although much like our lawn, my appetite dries up in extreme heat.

*hugs and cookies* good to hear that, Melrick. I'll keep you guys in my thoughts.

Melrick, that's always good to hear. Let's hope it continues!

Thanks everyone. More good days to follow, I hope.

Yes, the government up here has also decided to not use the AstraZeneca vaccine for the under 50 crowd, because of those blood clot cases. But as far as I know they’re pretty much on schedule with the vaccine plans, so my parents (mum has underlying conditions, and dad’s turning 69 this year) should be up this month, and then hopefully I’ll be getting mine near the end of the month, start of May. And we’ve got decent control of the pandemic up here as well, although we had a fourth wave pick up just around Christmas, which is thankfully back under control. 

Let’s hope you guys stay on track with keeping Covid under control (knock on wood) and that you’ll get the jab soon. And I can only imagine how much stress it lifts for you that your mum is getting her jabs, and therefore getting some level of protection  

The health district that we live in is called the Hunter New England health district, which is nearly 132,000 square kilometres in size, just to give you an idea, and we haven’t had a single case of Covid for 251 days, so we’ve been living life pretty normally for quite a while now.  And here’s hoping that continues!

Alrighty then… Iceland is 103.000 km2  total     And we’re definitely not doing that well  Population is somewhere around the 350 000 mark now, I think. But I hope you guys keep doing that well, and that we’ll catch up eventually  

Yup, that’s it, I finally had someone – I mean something – to do.

Let’s hope it’s not too long before you spend time together again. 

I hope so too.