To continue from yesterday...

I called my vet this morning about what happened yesterday. When I didn't get a return phone call within the hour, I knew something was up.

The phone call came this afternoon that I should contact Chica's neurologist, Seizures are happening too close together ( as mentioned) and there is the whole medication issue that I've posted about elsewhere. Chica has blood work done every 6 months to make sure her liver is functioning the way it's supposed to, but because all of her meds are metabolized in the liver, her liver is working overtime, all of the time. Anyway... neurologist has been contacted. I should hear from him sometime Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Jingle has been whining all day. She's doing the "walk and sit" that we saw last year when she was having anal gland issues although we didn't know it was anal gland issues right away. Having learned that lesson, I called my vets office again to see if I could get Jingle in to have her butt checked. That conversation turned into "Techs don't have appointments at the time you need / want" and "No, you can't make a appointment with a Dr".

I'm in a 'I have zero tolerance for BS' kind of mood today, so I thanked the person on the phone and called the vets office we bring bring the pigs to. Long story short, Jingle will be having her butt checked later today. Because the office has never seen her before, it will be a regular visit with a doctor. In the future if we need to, we can make tech appointments so Jingle can have her anal glands expressed.

After this, Chica will be going on to have her yearly physical at the end of the week. Who knows what that will bring. I don't know if her neuro is going to want to see her or not. I'm going with probably (at some point) as it has been almost a year since she saw him last.

Digitalisation is a pita. "You need our app to use our service/scan our QR code to use our services" makes me want to throw my phone away. I don't want to download an app and create an account just because I need your service this one time.
I need to use a service from my health insurance which I used to do via their website, but now it requires I use their app, which for some reason needs me to re-register, for which they have to send me some code per snail mail.

But being halfway stuck between digitalisation and traditional bureaucracy is *some* progress for a country being backwards since the 90's

The doctor said I have to do ABPM. I've done this before. But this device squeezes my arm so hard! The readings aren't that high, there's no need to blow it up over 200 every time

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ftc-r...ses-in-fortnite

Blech... the gaming industry. It is such a swamp...

I'm starting to believe that weather actively avoids this place. Heavy thunderstorm warnings for this area were bright red and I hoped for a nice lightshow and a cooldown, but noooo. As per usual, I could see everything pass by in the distance, and all we got was cloud cover and a little wind for an hour.
I was also hoping for rain to take care of my plants, but not a single droplet fell.

Ahh, I feel your pain! Here too we've been passed over for refreshing thunderstorms, it's been hot and muggy and the garden's wilting. We had storm warnings and I watched them pass us by on Lightningmaps. It's been a long time since we had decent rain or lightning!

Stumbled out of bed Thursday to find a puddle in the bathroom. I started to yell at the dog, but then I realized my slippers had squelched on the hall carpet and he just doesn't have that capacity. Turns out the water heater needed to be replaced, which took a big chunk out of my savings and made a tremendous mess. To add insult to injury, I am now getting unwanted telephone solicitations for home warranties when I was just getting them for extended car warranties, so I have a sneaking suspicion somebody sold my info.

Bought stawberries that I was very excited to get home and eat. Dropped them outside and they got squashed

Went to another place to buy replacement strawberries (too many witnesses at the other place you know? )

I hate spider and insect/creepy-crawler season (Somewhere from late April to October/November, it seems). There's barely a day I don't see a flying critter or spider in my bedroom. Usually the same spots every time (they like the back corner and the middle of the floor, no idea why).

Saw one of the medium-sized spiders of the type that's been especially annoying lately, was about to go catch it, then saw a micro spider running about in the same area. Don't they have better places to be?

Speaking of bugs, mealy bugs continue to be a PITA. I spent literally 2 hours with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and Q-tips swiping plant leaves on Friday. Yesterday I sprayed the problem plants with Capt Jack's Deadbug. This morning I got up, checked both plants and both of them had new white spots on them. There is no mention of mealy bugs on the list of bugs Capt Jack's kills. The fact that it did not work is not the fault of the product. I tried it because I had it in the house and thought maybe it would help.

Clearly Neem Oil and Capt. Jack's isn't going to fix the problem, so I'm trying something else. It is a homemade concoction of:

1 part water
1 part rubbing alcohol ( rubbing alcohol kills the mealy bugs on contact)
1 drop of Dawn dish liquid ( dish liquid makes the water and alcohol stick to the leaves)

I need to use this mixture for at least the next couple of weeks. The first round is to kill of the adults and any larvae. I don't know if the rubbing alcohol kills eggs or not. If it doesn't, I have to wait for any eggs to hatch, then they can be killed, ect. This is much like getting rid of a flea infestation. They have to be killed off for the entire life cycle before the problem goes away. Getting to that point includes vacuuming every day and keep everything super clean to prevent further infestation.



https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/mealybugs

I love my plants, but the thought of sticking them in boxes with free signs has passed through my mind a few times over the past few days whether they have mealy bugs or not.