2007 Over and Out

Well that's 2007 over with, and on the whole good riddance! There have been a few highlights but they were against the backdrop of Lorii's failing health. Lets hope that 2008 is better. I hope all of you had a good year and that 2008 is a better one for you too.

Photography

Dog Walkers III
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Went out to try my new filters today. I got a neutral density filter and a R27 infrared filter. It turns out the beach is not the place to experiment with infrared photography, and the neutral density filter did not alow me to slow the shutter as much as I wanted. I did manage to take a couple of good pictures; the one here and another that you can view from my flickr site.

For those looking for news on Lorii. Bizarrely she hurts more now than earlier, but this is probably things healing up and letting her know they are back! She's not quite up to making the trek up the steep attic stairs to the computer. But as soon as she is, Lorii will be e-mailing you all to let you know how she is doing.

Christmas over...

Well we all got great gifts; Lorii got a wood lathe, I got a flash for my camera, Jake got a limited collection of manga books and Katie got an easel.

A good time was had by all, though lorii is still in a lot of pain. Her tummy is still very swollen and she is in a great deal of pain. Her analgesics are only just covering her pain. She was seen by the surgeon on Christmas Eve who was very happy with her. Unfortunately the fibromyalgia and diabetes mean she is going to be slow to heal.

Drain Removed

Well Lorii's drain has been removed, though not because she had stopped bleeding, but because it was dislodged. We are not sure what is supposed to happen to the fluids now, but she goes to see the surgeon on Christmas Eve to check all is well. At the moment she is feeling very sore, tired and nauseous. I've been running around, like a fly with a blue bum, trying to make sure we have all we need for Christmas and look after Lorii. If I don't get a chance to post again before Christmas have a good one and I hope you all get the prezzies you were wishing for.

Home

Well Lorii is home! She it still pretty poorly, and has a short list of things she is not allowed to do; anything. In truth though this does not matter as she is so deprived of sleep and so full of medicine that I don't even think she wants to do anything. For now though I'm just relieved that the worst seems to be over, and that Lorii can now start the long road of convalescence.

Blood

Blood
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Unfortunately Lorii's wound has not stopped bleeding. We've nothing official to go on but Lorii is pretty certain they will be going back in Monday afternoon. All a bit of a downer really as the nurses are all saying things like, "We have to try to get you out for Christmas." Lorii is very tired, probably due to the loss of blood, and upset at the prospect of another operation.
I'll post again once we know what the doctors plan to do.

More from the Vic

Well Lorii seems to be improving, though she is still draining a lot of blood. It looks like the surgeon carved her up good and proper when excavating her left ovary. She seems to be surviving on 10ml of Orimoph every two hours now. Lorii had been hoping to be discharged on Monday, but if this bleeding does not stop that seems unlikely. On the positive side the hospital may enable her to jump the queue for a place at the pain clinic. This could help her manage her ongoing pain caused by the fibromyalgia in a way that has less of an impact on her daily life.

Scanned

Lorii had her scan today. Didn't seem to show much. Asked operator why Lorii was so bloated. The response was to point out that morphine makes you constipated. So I turned to Lorii, "You hear that dear, You're full of..." You can guess the rest. Lorii had another fight for her pain meds today too. Some junior doctor stolled onto the ward and reduced her morphine by a quarter without even a look at her. Some arguing and a helpful Sister sorted it out before I left for work.

By the way...

I've just been looking at the stats for my blog. It's funny how we are always told that sex is the biggest thing searched on the internet. Well despite the fact that Lorii and I together make locking slave collars for the BDSM and fetish market, and have links off this blog to the Wyred Slave site. Also despite having referred to these products in the blog, and used words that Masters and Mistresses looking for that all important fetter would use in searches is our range of restraints the most hit on search? No! The most used key words are "Star trek ships" closely followed by 1812 Overture! Go figure!

Hospital news

Lorii stopped bleeding into her drain the other night, so the surgeons did not open her up again. However they put three litres of blood in and only took one out. Her tummy looks 9 months pregnant and she is still in a lot of pain. They are planning now to do a scan, though they have to wait for a slot in its very busy schedule. The morphine Lorii has be prescribed has been coming in varying amounts and doses, depending on which nurse is handing it out. All in all she is not a happy camper. Add to that that she looks set to stay on the ward for the next five day at the least and we are now wondering if she'll make it home for Christmas.

Lorii Latest

Under the Bridge
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Lorii has not had too smooth a ride since the operation. Last night some jumped up nurse took into her head to refuse her her medication. Causing Lorii needless suffering. I've spent the day putting across my displeasure to various Doctors and Nurses at how she has been treated to date.

Now I've just had a call from Lorii (I'm at work) to say she has been put back on Nil By Mouth as they're thinking of going back in. Not good. Apparently they are not happy with the amount of blood in her drain.

More news as I get it.

Lorii

Lorii had her operation on Monday at around 1.00pm. She had both her ovaries removed as well as her womb, though her cervix was left in place. Her right ovary had a cyst on it. Her left ovary was attached to her abdominal wall by many adhesions caused by the endometriosis. She is in a lot of pain and has a morphine pump she can use to inject 1mg every five minutes. When I first got there the five minutes were not passing fast enough. But by the time I left at 9.00 she was sleeping comfortably, waking only to push the button before returning to sleep.

The state of Lorii's ovaries would explain most of her abdominal pain. I may be counting chickens, but hopefully once Lorii has recovered from this operation, the removal of the cause of the endometriosis may allow her other conditions to laps into remission. if so this could vastly improve her quality of life. Lets hope hey!

I got Lorii a Nintendo DS Lite for Christmas, but when the operation date came through I decided to let her open her present early. Now I'm just waiting for her to be well enough to start playing Tetris!

The story so far...

Mayor and Katie
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well the picture is of Katie picking up her exam certificates and lots of prizes from the Mayor of Blackpool.

Other news;

Lorii now has a wheelchair. She is not confined to it but it is there for those days when the pain is too much for walking. It got it's first outing to Ikea the other day. Made Lorii do a double-take when she rolled in front of a mirror and she saw herself.

Lorii has her pre-operation assessment tomorrow, with her operation on the 10th of December. We have had a chat with the surgeon and she has put a lot of Lorii's concerns to rest. However she is still looking at a week in hospital and convalescence over Christmas.

I have built Jacob a fitted bedroom. I'm pleased with it and Jacob is chuffed too. He just needs a new carpet and he'll have the first finished room in the house!

We now have four cats! This is getting ridiculous. We now have a ginger and white tom called Lemmy/Chairman Meow and a tabby called Bob.

More news when I have the time....

I am alive!

Life has been very busy of late. So I have had no time to blog. Lorii had a further CT scan yesterday, will share results once they are in. Her wheelchair arrive yesterday too. That's a lot crap so soon after her birthday. Lorii does not need it all the time, just for trips out when the pain overtakes her and stops her walking. The kids are now officially adopted, so I can stop being nice now! };o)) Katie has a new laptop for college that is better than my computer. It even has a newer version of Mac OSX than mine. Jake met one of the Dragons from Dragons Den and won a £70 pound grant for his woodworking business. I'll do this all again properly when I have the time.

Sleep; What's that then?

Hello World! Long time no write I know, but I've just been so busy. Lorii's parents have been on holiday, and it has driven home to me just how much they help. Lorii has been going in to the hotel this week and with George away that means I have to take Lorii in. So 4 hours of sleep a night if I can get to sleep by 3.00, which I rarely do. Tomorrow (What am I saying it is tomorrow!) I take Katie into work, at 9.15am; It's 4.15am as I type this!

Lorii went to hospital and has been told she is to have a hysterectomy. Soon I won't know a woman with a womb! No date as yet but with a 3 month waiting list we are looking at early December. Later this month Lorii has another CT scan to look at all those lumps in her lungs. I'm a little less worried about those since the Lupus diagnosis as it could explain what they are; scar tissue from an occasion when the Lupus turned on Lorii's lungs.

Lorii has a really heavy cold at the moment, which seems a bit unfair to throw at someone as poorly as Lorii. Plus she can't take any cold cures as they all seem to contain paracetamol and would cause her to overdose if she took her needed co-codamol. Ho hum.

Jake gets to meet one of the Dragons from Dragons Den on Monday. I've told him to ask for lots of money! You never know....

Fireworks III

Multiburst
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well I got to see some fireworks this year. :o) The Portuguese put on a good show as part of the World Fireworks Competition, and I got to try out my new camera. Mainly it highlighted that I need to learn a lot more. Especially on how to control it in manual mode. However I did get a few decent results, though a lot did not work. This was not due to my bungling but the strong onshore wind; which made both the camera and tripod shake as well as deforming the star-bursts.

Shell Drop

Shell Drop
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well I got lucky! There was one date on which the World Fireworks Competition is held that I could attend; last Sunday! I'll post pictures once I've sorted them out; I got very trigger happy. Anyway I was walking down the promenade to find a suitable spot to set up the tripod. I was keeping one eye on the sunset, as it was turning out to quite a good one. But kept noticing that the seagulls were all flying around with shells in their beaks. Puzzled I watched closely as the bird circled above my head before dropping its shell and immediately diving after it. With the crack the shell made the penny, as well as the shell, dropped. The gulls were smashing the shells open on the foot of the sea wall. Now while I'm sure the whelks were not very happy about this I hope you'll agree it made for a nice photograph.

Toby Playing

Just a short vid of Toby playing with his favourite toy. If you want one of these for your cat you can get them from Lorii's ebay shop on the right.

Qualifications

Pyro China 1
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well the good news is that Katie got her exam results today and they're excellent. Four B grades, four A grades and three A star grades. Katie is the first student ever to get A star in both English Literature and English Language at her school. Everybody is made up for her though bizarrely Katie is most pleased with the B she got in French. After a poor spoken test Katie had not been expecting to do so well.

On a slightly less happy note I have just noticed that the World Firework Competition, that is once again to be held in Blackpool, is going to do it's thing on Friday nights. I'd been really looking forward to trying my new Nikon out and seeing if I could better the results I got last year (See above). But with me working nights that's going to be out of the question. Ho Hum.

Adoption

Well tomorrow I'm off to court to see the judge. Nothing bad though, just adopting the kids I've been raising these past few years.

Lorii has been told by the doctor to start the process of registering as disabled. A bit of a downer that, but at least once registered we should get some tax breaks and some better parking spaces.

Well as I'm up early tomorrow, and I'm only just back from work, I'd better get to bed.

Katie Job Watch: Day 35

Yeay - KATIE GOT A JOB

She now works at Pets @ Home at weekends... she got the call the day after the interview... so obviously cleaning out cages and serving the general public is better than washing and ironing at home.

Scruff

Scruff
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well we decided that the guinea pigs needed some new blood to diversify the gene pool. So lets hear a warm welcome for scruff! Scruff brings not only a fresh set of genes but a sense of style unknown to our family of guinea pigs. According to Katie his symmetrical rosette pattern actually means he is rather well bred. Gosh! Blue blood; who knew?

Katie Job Watch: Day 29

Katie has an interview! Talk about jammy. One application and they phone her straight back within hours of submitting it. The meeting is on Monday; obviously I'll keep you all informed.

Star Trek Ships

Star Trek Ships
Originally uploaded by Jibby!

Stumbled across this as I was roaming Flickr one lunchtime. Who knew there were so many ships in Star Trek?

Katie Job Watch: Day 28

Yesterday Katie actually asked for a job and was given an application form!!! However this was because the employer had no vacancies at the moment and was probably being polite. Otherwise there is not much news on the seeking front, though Katie is settling in well to her new domestic duties. She did admit that she was getting fed up with, "Being the house slave!" But then that was the idea, so no sympathy here. If she does not step up a gear in the hunt soon Lorii and I will be adding more chores and a timetable they must be done by...

Birdgirl

Birdgirl
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well getting the birds wings clipped seems to be paying dividends on the taming and training front. As the picture shows Katie can get up close and personal with the birds now. Oh and she did not lose an eyeball just after this picture was taken.

On the job seeking front there has been very little progress. I was right about the uniform though, so I'm glad I didn't waste my money there. If Lorii and I don't see some serious job seeking action soon though things may turn nasty...

Harry Potter

Well Jake now has latest Harry Potter book. He queued for hours in the pouring rain to get it as soon as it was available. Lorii has peeked at the back page to discover Harry Potters fate, but I think I'll just read the book when Jake has finished with it.

Votes Please

Well I've added a picture to the fashion competition on Jpeg Magazine. If any of you folks feel like supporting me I'd appreciate some votes...

Katie Job Watch: Day 19

Still no job; or any serious searching for jobs. So Lorii and I now have a tame domestic servant. Until work comes her way she is now in charge of the laundry, dog walking, hoovering, washing and cleaning. Which is great! Tonight I'm coming home to a bed with fresh linen. Katie has just made me a packed lunch for work and she has a huge pile of ironing to do this afternoon. I'd get her a uniform, but she would probably like that, so we'll just keep piling on the chores until getting a job seem like an easy way out.

Katie Job Watch: Day 16

Still no job yet. Though she has now made a curriculum vitae.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mum! Hope you're having a great time.

Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

One of the ways Flickr categorise the pictures submitted to it is by 'Interestingness.' Just how 'Interestingnees' is accumulated is a subject of much debate by the users of Flickr, but it is something most want. It has something to do with the number of views a picture get as well as who looks, what groups the picture is placed in and how many. I'm damned if I can work it out, but I do know that in the "Last 7 Days Interesting" section you can find some pretty spectacular pictures. I've never made it into the Last 7 Days but I have had a few pictures placed in the Top 500 Interesting for the week they were posted. The beach shot above is the first to have made this distinction since January 2006, as well as the first on my new Nikon. I'm pretty chuffed. Lets hope it's the start of a trend.

1812 Overture

I found this on You Tube; Now why were my science projects nothing like this? If we were lucky we got to play with a Van de Graaff generator, never a Tesla coil! But what a use! These guys are turning the word geek into cool! I can just see Heavy Metal bands wanting giant musical Teslas to replace their banks of Marshal amps.

Katie Job Watch: Day 5

Katie is still looking for employment. Though she has made some half hearted moves in the direction of the local supermarket and DIY store.

Vet Emergency

Well Toby has had his first visit to the vets. We don't know how but the poor mite lost the tip of his tail! The first we knew of it was when he jumped on the bed leaking blood everywhere! The vet thinks he must have got it caught in a door jam, which makes my eyes water just thinking about it. Anyway; he should be okay, we have some antibiotics to give him. Though if it does not heal he may be looking at a small operation to tidy the wound that will reduce his tail even more. So strike one life for Toby and £45 for me.

Get a job!

Well Katie has now left school. Next it's college and then university. In the meantime Katie; GET A JOB!

Bye Bye Rats

Play With Me
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Sadly the rats were taken on their last trip to the vets yesterday. Both had developed tumours on their mammary glands. One had become so large that the rat was struggling to cope with it. Well they had a good innings and fun lives. Both will be missed.

Blink

Blink
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Both the children and I are fans of the recent Doctor Who episode Blink! Jake has made me a T-shirt that proclaims, "The Angels have the blue box," and I took a trip into a nearby cemetery to see if I could find any Weeping Angels. While the picture was taken with a bit of fun in mind I rather pleased with how it's turned out on an artistic level too. Remember; Don't blink. Don't look away. But especially don't blink!

Kitten

Kitten
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

The zoo expands! Add a cat/kitten to the roster. I'll post name when we have one...

Shift Work II

Well I've come to the end of another week on the new shift and have, effectively, a three day weekend in front of me. This is nice, but it would help if my employers had been kind enough to pay me the extra money they offered me for working this shift. Unsurprisingly the accounts department have screwed up. They obviously thought I was coming in late and working until two thirty to make up my time! Three day weekends and day-times at home do not make up for missing my kids and pushing through to the wee hours. I'm famously short tempered when it comes to money. Never having any helps. If it's not sorted by the next pay packet I'm back to days whether my employers like it or not. I've watched too many mates argue for months over new pay or working conditions, while the money earns interest in the bosses bank account.

On another level it seems my employers want to sack all their key staff! A new rule has been passed down from above in reaction to an alarming rise in bodged jobs and unhappy customers. To supplant a perfectly adequate grievance procedure they have invented a set of rules that is being called, "Five strikes and you're out!" Essentially each error that makes its way to to a customer will initiate a witch hunt to track down a scapegoat. The unlucky soul found guilty of being totally responsible will then receive a strike. Dependant on a rolling score that starts with each persons first strike one of five punishments is then metered out; starting with an official verbal warning and ending with the termination of contract. I've never heard of such nonsense! Clearly the sign of weak management. This means that if I have more than 0.0125 jobs wrong in 100 I'm in deep trouble. The numbers are quite scary; I do a lot of jobs in a year and just five missed typos could lose me my job!

The daft thing is it is all so unnecessary. Everybody knows who the weak links are. The ones who hold their positions due to nepotism or long penetrating tongues down their superiors backsides. Get tough and use the existing rules to lose this baggage, and stop firing shots across the bows of the good guys.

Canon Fodder

When I chose the alias of Canon Fodder I really did not put a great deal of thought into the process. I was getting slaughtered in Unreal; I figured that the name would fit while I was still a noob and if I ever got good... Well lets say no one likes being told, "You were killed by Canon Fodder."

But I got lazy. Which is not such a deviation from my usual personality type. So from that point whenever I got asked to supply an online nickname I gave Canon Fodder. So while I am not the sole user of the handle, (I'm not even the only Jason Long) there is a fair chance if you meet a Canon Fodder online it'll be me. So obviously I blog under the name, I also use it on Flickr which has become a little embarrassing; as I now own a Nikon. I had to explain the origin of the handle when I joined the Nikon D40x users group.

I've taken a quick look at some of the other users of the name. It's quite a varied bunch;

First off there is a Wikipedia entry for Canon Fodder which to my ignorant delight was a 2000AD Comic character! I enjoyed reading my friends issues of 2000AD in the past and while I am a fan of such characters as Strontium Dog and Judge Dredd I never new their was a Canon Fodder. The Character has his own page on the 2000AD Website.

There is a sports blog using the name as well as the url, but I do not understand why. It is American, so there may be no reason.

Delightfully Trekies or should I say Trekers have entitled the page where they debate and fix continuity issues Canon Fodder

There is a slide show using the name. Once again I am clueless for the reason.

Finally a fellow Blogger has used Canon Fodder for his Blog He/She seems obsessed with reading a great big list of books. Once again no specific reason is given for the title. But I suspect the may be a play of words going on here. Canon with only one n is not a misspelt word. It could be a fact or a religious leader...

Sixteen

Well Yesterday was Katies birthday; she turned sixteen. Lots of gifts were showered upon her. As well as the birds, that even as I type this fill the house with their musical squawks, Katie received a light-box, numerous artists pens, hand made cards, clothes and hard cash. Also, thankfully while I was at work, an alcohol crazed teenage riot/party was held in the evening. (I may have exaggerated a bit there.) I think Katie is a bit disappointed with turning sixteen; all the things she is now legally able to do either Lorii and I won't let her, or she does not want to. But that's teenagers for you.

Dog Walking

Dog Walking
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Just a snap of Katie walking the dog; but look at that wall. I love my new camera!

Shift Work

As from Monday I start on a new shift at work. I'll start at five in the afternoon and work into the early hours of the next day. The main incentive is a 15% pay increase, but it also means I'm at home during business hours and free to pursue the collars business that seems to be taking off. We have had enough demand that prices have gone up, and we have just taken an order from an alternative retailer. If someone had told me a year ago I'd be making money in the sex industry selling locking steel collars to the BDSM fraternity I'd have rolled on the floor laughing.

Happy Me

Happy Me
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

When I was about seven years old I bought my first camera; an Instamatic 110. I keenly snapped away on this until, after a visit to Farnborough Air show at the age of fourteen or fifteen, I started lusting after an SLR. My first SLR was a Ricoh XR1, my second a Chinnon CE5 and there the progression stopped. Financial and family commitments ment money could not go on new cameras. My first digital was a Sony Cybershot W1 bought second hand from the modern day equivalent of a pawn shop. But today I have been gifted a Nikon D40x. Hence the bloody big smile in the picture. Stunning pictures should follow...

Stats

Map
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

I've subscribed to one of those sites that counts the number of visitors your web-site attracts, and gives you various statistics about them. Of course these figures are predictably small; I'm not writing about anything important here. But they have thrown up a few surprises. I was unaware that I have readers in Kathmandu and Caracas. Or that I am the top result in Google when you type in 1812 Ovature!

New Job

Well I've been offered a new position at work. It seems the company wants to make a push into America and, until there are enough customers to warrant setting up a factory in the states, I'm going to working a shift in time with the West Coast of the USA. The work will not change; I'll just be on hand to handle telephone enquires after normal UK office hours. The main incentive for me is the 15% pay increase. But it will also mean that I will be home during the day, which will give me more hours when I can work on making collars. Something that seems to be taking off quite well.

Fynn

Fynn
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder

Well here is a picture of Fynn; the remaining bird from the original pair. Katie now has two new baby birds too. Needless to say Jake has been banned from her room unless she is present and he is invited. Fynn can be seen here posing with a piece of limp lettuce; She quite likes lettuce but prefers fingers when she can get them!

Roller Coaster

Well the last few days have been a huge emotional roller coaster. Katie's birds duly arrived; though they were not transported to their cage without a fright. As Katie was adjusting something in the cage, one got out! Lots of flapping and chasing later the bird is back with it's mate, though Katie is nursing a severely pecked hand! Katie did not mind though, she was just so happy she spent the rest of the day just watching her new birds.

The next day Lorii wins a new ceiling fan for the dining room on the internet. I take Katie with me to fetch it, after dropping Lorii off at a friends hotel. Lorii had become quite chatty with the seller of the ceiling fan, and had told him about Katies new birds. He took us around the back of his home to see his aviary, containing numerous finches including canaries. He also owned chipmunks, though we only saw one as the others were fast asleep. Katie was delighted, however, and was glad she had not stayed in the car while I collected the fan. Another surprise though came while chatting with Eddie, the fans owner, when it emerged through conversation that he was a good friend of George, Lorii's dad. They had both run businesses near Gyn Square, and often went drinking together. Eddie was really amazed that of all the people on the internet, who should buy his fan but the daughter of a good friend. A small world indeed.

When we got home Jacob was really agitated. He thrust the phone at me and told me I had to phone Lorii. I was instantly concerned, frightened even, that something terrible had happened to her. I asked Jacob what had happened and he confessed; he had accidentally released one of Katies birds. Not just from the cage, but from the house. The bird was gone. Forever. It turns out that once the rest of the family were out of the house Jacob had decided to play with Katies birds. Knowing full well that Katie would not let him near the birds while she was there he had decided to feed them; despite Katie having done so already. So although being present when Katie chased the bird around her bedroom, he opened the cage without first shutting the windows! I have never seen my daughter so upset, or been so angry with my son. As a parent I feel incredibly guilty that I did not prevent this from happening. I have felt for some time now that both my children were mature enough to be left unattended without risk of a major incident. For Jacob to display such a monumental streak of both selfishness and stupidity is totally gutting. It has taken Katie two days to come to terms with this. Jacob has further angered me by trying to play the victim card, sulking and playing the woe is me act as he suffers his punishments. Time (and Jacobs savings) will heal this. I only hope that Jacob has finally learnt not to touch other peoples possessions without asking.

Birds

Anyone who knows Katie knows she is just a weenie bit obsessed with birds. She has pressed us every year for some sort of bird every birthday and Christmas; and now she is about to turn sixteen. Well we have given in. Harris hawks are still off the list as we just cannot look after them properly. Large parrots and macaws are no-nos too, as they live too long and require too much attention. So we have settled on cockatiels. Lorii won a huge bird cage on ebay, that would have cost £90 or more, for only £15! Jacob has been doing his bit too, by wooing the local pet store owner; he may have secured a free bird. So, Katie is under the firm understanding, that when she flies our nest she takes these birds with her, but right now she is just bouncing of the walls with excitement. It's good to see her so happy.

Oven

Well our oven died on Friday. So we've bought a new one and a new hob too. The oven I had installed in seconds, the only hitch being the lack of even a mains cable on the new oven. But I simpley removed both plug and cable from the out going unit and Robert was my Mothers Brother! The hob though is a different kettle of fish altogether. That is going to require a Corgi certified Gas fitter. I was amazed to find that, unlike cookers, hobs don't have flexible hoses to connect. Or if they normally do; my existing unit and my new one don't. So I can't install my hob. Ho hum.

Lorii gets the results to her second scan tomorrow. I'm not too worried; as they have left it nearly a month after the scan to tell her. I'm sure if they had spotted anything to worry about they would have called her in much sooner.

Wounded

Well I've just got back from the NHS Walk-In Centre. I sliced my little finger on my right hand, on a broken glass, whilst doing some washing up. The bugger would not stop bleeding, so after an hour of leaking circulatory fluid, I thought I'd show it to an expert. It was only a little cut. But things must have been slow at the walk-in centre, as I was shown straight through to a nurse, after triage, instead of being sent out to wait while they dealt with real emergencies. For my troubles I got three steri-strips, as it did not merit stitches, half a mile of tubi-grip, some gauze, Micropore and a tetanus booster.

The good news is I'm banned from washing-up. This is a bit dire for Katie though, as Jake cut his hand earlier iin the week and he too has problems keeping his dressing dry.

A Death

The little baby Guinea Pig died this morning. It seems a shame that it died without even a name, so I'm going to refer to him as Nelson; for no better reason than he spent a large part of his brief life using only one eye. Both Lorii and Katie tried spoon feeding Nelson through Sunday, but he was just too week to suckle from his mom. It was inevitable really, and I'm now left wondering if I should have ended his life earlier and saved him suffering.

On a brighter note the remaining four are doing great, as is mum. All the guinea pigs have developed a strong Pavlovian reflex to the sound of a rustling plastic bag. Woe be-tied the person who rustles and does not feed them; the reward is a barrage of wheeps that hurt the ears!

OCD

Lorii has always been the sort make sure all the tins in the cupboard face the same way. Come to that she'll constantly rearrange the contents of the supermarket shopping trolly too. Which brings me to the new light fitting I've just installed in the front room. It's an OCD sufferers nightmare. It basically is a number of halogen bulbs on the ends of long thin, but flexible, bits of wire. Getting each wire curving the same as the others and to make the whole thing symmetrical is going to drive Lorii crazy.

One of the five baby guinea pigs was a runt. This small pathetic thing is melting the kids hearts, but I don't think it is going to make it. Pretty sad really. I've even tried helping it to suckle from it's mother without the rest of the litter. But as the rest go from strength to strength it just keeps getting weaker. Pretty sad really; but that's life.

I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow. The volume of work coming in has been more than our department can cope with for some time now. As I've taken on more orders my ability to move on to new orders is hampered by clients who see me as an opportunity to redesign the finished artwork they were supposed to be supplying for print. Ultimately it is not my fault but managements; all I can do is wade through the work assigned to me. But nobody likes to be a part of something that is breaking down.

Babies

Izzy had her second litter today. Five baby guinea pigs this time, all as cute as you like. Spunky was removed from the cage beforehand this time, so there will be a chance now for Izzy to rest.

Work is absolutely manic. I'm working fifteen hour days with no end in site. One of my fellow artist gave her notice recently, and another is on holiday. When the one on holiday returns another leaves for theirs... Still the money is nice but both Lorii and I are so tired.

Lorii goes for her follow-up CT scan tomorrow; to check the nodule really is nothing as the doctors suspect. Watch this space for news.

Pigeon

Pigeon
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

I was looking at the title page on Katie's comic and thought I'd share with you the original image. Back when Katie was finding it difficult to complete any work (She just had to keep changing or amending things.) I gave Katie a 'get out clause' for when she was grounded. If ever she was grounded she could end the grounding by handing in an original and completed work of art. The picture on the right is the result of one such episode.

Aspects of Reality

Katie wrote a comic! Actually Katie is in the process of writing a Graphic Novel and has placed the first pages on the web. I'm impressed, but then I'm biased, as I'm her Dad. So take a look at Aspects of Reality. I've also put a link on the right, so once this post is old news, you can still find her site. But I'm guessing a lot of you will be bookmarking her Novel so you can go straight to it.

Katie has been doing well at school and we had a "Parents Evening" recently. Luckily Katie does not put us through the trauma I subjected my parents to. In fact I'm still glowing from the praise awarded Katie by her English teacher; "Katies' course work will get het an A* for her GCSE. If we were to take the same work to College it would receive, a Grade A, A-level. IF we then took her work to University it would get her a First." When Katie heard that her head swelled so large she banged it getting into the car going home!

Snore

Mothers Day

Well my card made it to my mum on time. Which was a relief given the unreliability of the British postal service. Lorii however has not yet awoken to enjoy her Mothers day. Since being diagnosed with Lupus she has been very tired. We have both wondered if there may be something psychosomatic going on there, but it's hard to tell and we still know so little.

George is home from hospital and improving every day. Doubtless it is merely a matter of time now before George will be running the four minute mile.

Heart Operation

Well George has made it through his bypass operation.
Luckily he did not have any protesters complaining about the defoliation of two perfectly hairy legs! So the police were not called and everything went smoothly. It would have been a shame if the ugly scenes of the Newbury Bypass were repeated in Blackpool.
At the time of writing this George is off the ventilator, has been conscious and is now exploring the wonders of morphine.

Lupus

Well things just seem to be getting worse. As well as being diabetic and suffering from endometriosis and fibromyalgia, Lorii has just be diagnosed with Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect virtually any system in the body. Think of it as a 'self-allergy' where the body attacks its own cells and tissues, causing inflammation, pain, and possible organ damage. We no little more than what we have read on the internet at this stage; we're going to see a specialist in a couple of weeks. One thing we know for sure though is Lupus is incurable. All said and dusted pretty grim.
If Lorii did not have enough on her plate to worry her right now her dad is going into hospital for a quadruple heart bypass operation tomorrow. I think he may be having some work on a valve too! Needless to say she is pretty worried for him. Mel, Lorii's sister, has returned from Australia for the operation too, and we are having a family meal with George tonight.

Unreal 2007

For those of you who do not play Unreal Tournament the following trailer will probably not get get you excited. I on the other hand just want to find out the answer to three simple questions. When is this being released? Will my Mac run it? How much?

Lorii's Funky Miscellanea II

Well I have now sorted the RSS feed to Lorii's shop. You'll now find the three latest additions to her shop on the right, just under the links section and above the RSS feed to my mothers blog. Expect a wide variety of products here; from sea shells to make necklaces from, to Chinese figurines, to locking steel collars for the large fetish market that seems to populate Ebay. The last there being my own hand crafted attempt to add value to simple materials and help swell the coffers, aside from the nine to five effort that is. So any Masters or Mistresses out there that are looking for something new or original to lock about their slave or submissives' throat would be advised to take a gander.
Anyway, keep an eye on it. The items listed there do not show up on normal searches within ebay, so there is the opportunity to find an obscure bargain missed by the general populace of Ebay.

Lorii's Funky Miscellanea

Lorii has opened an Ebay shop! There is a link on the right, and once I can work out the gremlins I'll put a RSS feed up too. My first attempts at metalwork are now up for sale; So if you'd like a Steel Rope choker you now know where to go...

Top Gear

Okay, this is not really a blog entry in the typical sense. Last Sunday I watched one of the best bits of telly I have seen to date. It was not as important as the Berlin wall coming down. Nor was it as shattering as the WTT attack. But despite the fact that it was only a light entertainment show, Top Gear did something special. I should add that I have seen a real shuttle launch in person, and I fully expect YouTube to take this clip down when they find it. This will put a smile on your face...


I've since come across this launch by the same guys;

Dr Dippy and the Needle of Doom

Yesterday was the day Lorii had her injection to simulate a hysterectomy.
Just getting to this point had been a small battle with our surgery; Doctors had tried to withdraw Lorii's pain medicine, refused to refer her to specialists and denied her repeat prescriptions. After finally undergoing an exploratory operation a Gynaecological Surgeon diagnosed Lorii with Endometriosis with a possible side order of Fibromyalgia. Acknowledging that Lorii was in great pain the surgeon had actually cut nerves to the worst affected areas inside her. Then once Lorii had recovered from the surgery the possibility of a hysterectomy as a long term cure was suggested. However as this is a big step from which there would be no going back it was recommended that the hysterectomy was simulated chemically first to see if this would indeed cure Lorii's Endo. The surgeon also said she would write to Lorii's surgery to recommend stronger pain meds and suggest a referral to see a specialist on Fibromyalgia.
So we wait the week the surgeon told us the letter would take and make an appointment to see a doctor at Lorii's surgery. To find the letter has not arrived and the Doctor, without the word of the surgeon, wants to interfere with Lorii's meds. We were lucky to get out of there with a repeat of what Lorii was already on, let alone any increase to combat Lorii's increasing tolerance to their effect.
Anyway, we were told Lorii would now be called in when the magical letter arrived. Which brings us to Lorii's meeting with Dr Dippy and the Needle of Doom.
The only female doctor the surgery could provide was a locum, which did not bother Lorii too much as her past record with the regular doctors was not too hot. On being called in we were met by a little old lady who must have been near the end of her career. I'll not post her name on the web just in case this farce degenerates to the point where it gets all legal and formal. Anyway the doctor seems unable to operate the computer and is unable to retrieve the letter from the surgeon. We insist it exists as it is the reason Lorii is there. After much pressing of the mouse and the opening and repeated closing of windows that contain no letter the doctor resorts to a book to find the dose of the drug that will simulate the removal of Lorii's womb. Once that is sorted we press her for the opiate based patches the surgeon had recommended. Without the letter though the doctor refuses saying, "Those are only for people in real pain." My blood boils. The pain that has been reducing Lorii to a weeping insomniac who convulses on the bed in agony was not real? The constant agonising pain the surgeon cut nerves to try and stop was imaginary? I tried to calmly point out that the large cocktail of tramadol, codine, paracetamol and ibuprofen that Lorii was on was losing its effectiveness and that something equally or more powerful needed to be explored. The doctor stuck to her guns and refused the patches. She did issue Lorii with repeats of her current medications though; something she technically should not have done as Lorii was not officially due a repeat at that time. More evidence that the doctor was was not in complete control of the computer on her desk. I understand what a locum doctor is. My faith in her medical expertise would not have been shaken if she had cursed the software and called for assistance in retrieving the patients records and details. The fact that she bluffed and lied led me to the quick decision that this woman was blagging the whole show and we were better of out of there. Lorii made a half hearted request for the Fibromyalgia referral, but this went the way of the patches; over the hill with it's backside on fire. We left with Lorii even more disillusioned with the medical fraternity and a fistful of prescriptions some of which I was not sure were correct. We went straight to the surgery's reception to book an appointment with a nurse to administer the chemical hysterectomy. While we were there we asked the receptionist if the surgeons letter was indeed on the system. I swear that receptionist had it up on screen in less than five seconds! She read it out to us! Everything the surgeon had promised was in there. Arrrgh! We ask if we can see another doctor straight away to be informed there are no appointments available until Thursday.
We decide to go fill the prescriptions, a bird in the hand if you like, and have a word with the nurse before the injection is carried out. The pharmacist does not hold the hysterectomy drug in stock so we have to come back later that day, it turns out this drug is very expensive and only ordered when needed.
The nurse is fantastic. We explain what has gone on earlier that day and she takes Lorii's medicine off to one of her regular doctors to check it is the right stuff. Once it is confirmed as correct she breaks it out, Lorii is on her back and not looking at this point, the needle is huge! I hold Lorii's hand as the injection is administered, it is over quickly, and while it obviously hurt her Lorii feels it is not as bad as she was fearing. The nurse then makes Lorii an appointment to see another doctor on Thursday to straighten out the farce of Locum. Hopefully if the analgesics are sorted and the implant works the next six months should see Lorii steadily improving. Watch this space for more news....

Climbing II

Well as Friday was Jacob's birthday I took him down to Liverpool with me to go climbing once again. Jacob did really well, though he was a bit nervous about abseiling back down at first. Richard kept pushing me; first into climbing an easy route without putting my feet on the holds, then he set me to climbing the pinnacle. This is a 12 meter (40 feet) tower and the path Richard set me has an overhang half way up. I found this really challenging both for my confidence but also my low level of strength, stamina and fitness. However I did make it up and was chuffed with myself for the rest of the day. Below is a brief clip of me climbing the Pinnacle, though it does not follow me to the top, as Jake ran out of memory on his camera.

Nursing Mum

Nursing Mum
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

Well Izzy and Spunky are proving to be excellent parents. All four babies are doing well. We are not definite about their names yet as we still don't know their sexes. But provisional names are Badger, Spot Camo and Ginger. Badgers name is obvious even if the dog is called Badger too. As well as having a badgers face Badger is the most assertive of the litter, always pestering Mum for a feed or bossing his brothers or sisters. Camo is the runt as well as having the most unusual ginger and grey markings. Dot is black with a white tummy and a white dot on the nape of her neck. Ginger is. Just like Dad.

Still Sea

Still Sea.
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

Jake and I went and took some pictures of the setting sun this afternoon. The air was so clear you could see the Lake District. The sea was unusually calm too, and the air already had a nip to it. The weather men are forecasting temperatures of around -7ºC. Which may not be much for some but it is pretty cool for temperate Old Blighty.

Camo

Camo
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

This is Camo. Camo is just a few hours old here having been born between 11.00pm on the 3rd of February and Midday on the 4th. Camo has three healthy brothers or sisters and mum is doing fine too. I'll post pictures of the rest of the litter as opportunity allows.

Gosh! Who knew?

Gosh! Who knew?
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

As you may be aware from a brief scan of this Blog I post my pictures on Flickr. On Flickr there is a feature where you can explore the best and most interesting pictures uploaded in the last seven days. Since this was started I have yearned to have my pictures included on this page. To have my pictures listed there would be some kind of validation from my peers that I can take a half decent photograph. Petty and vain I know, but I am only human and everybody craves a pat on the head from time to time.
So imagine my surprise when I discover today that I have already achieved this goal. Not just once, but nine times!
Bathe in my smugness you mere mortals! For I am a Photography God! Mwah ha ha ha.
Actually I'm a bit lucky as one of those pictures was taken by a satellite in space!

Sausages!

Sausages!
Originally uploaded by Canon Fodder.

Well after a brief hiatus Flicker has it's act together and I can once again easily post pictures to my blog. So now I can show off my sausages! So why are you showing us your sausages you ask? Because I made them myself! From mincing the meat to mixing the ingredients to filling the skins; all my own work. They taste pretty good too!

Climbing

Went down to visit Richard in Liverpool yesterday and he took me climbing at Awesome Walls. I had a wail of a time and only wish my arms had been up to more, only as it was my first time they quickly ran out of energy and grip. In fact it is quite a novel experience to be clinging to wall 6 meters up stood on a bolt on and realise your hands just don't work any more. It was also quite sobering to have Richard trust me to be on the other end of the rope that would stop him falling to his death; on my first trip to a climbing wall! Thankfully he only made me save him once! So will I be going again? Yes! I had a fantastic time... all I've got to do now is get the rest of the family interested.

Rats

Well while fine in themselves the rats are getting quite old... Unfortunately, they have both developed tumours that can only mean the end is nigh. Which is a great shame as they are two wonderful characters. So before we lose them to Rat Heaven I though I'd post a vid of them at their best;

Catching up...

Good grief, where does the time go?

Been very busy since the last blog, with little time for the computer, so I have quite a bit two write about...

Christmas went off well, the kids were spoilt by their grandparents, and everybody got what they were hoping for. I got a sausage making kit! The family is already fed up with sausages and the freezer is full of them! I am really enjoying them but Katie has come out and admitted she does not like my sausages. Ho hum. :(

Lorii's sister Mel came over from Australia for Christmas and the New Year. We all had a good time and I've a video to put together and post on YouTube when I can get the time.

Izzy has yet to give birth, but she is very gravid, it must be any day now. That, or we do have two girls, and Izzy has eaten all the pies! Watch this space for more news...

I've turned 41. It was inevitable really as I turned 40 last year. My mother has marked the date by posting a picture of a very young lad in black tie on her blog. I'm not sure why...

Lorii has been to see the surgeon who performed her laparoscopy. After discussing it with her we have decided to see if a hysterectomy may be the solution to Loriis' problem. The first stage in this is a series of injections into tricking the body into thinking the womb and ovaries have been removed. This will be accompanied with HRT. If this works, and the pain is removed, then the hysterectomy will be performed. She is also being referred to a specialist to ascertain if she does indeed have fibromyalgia, and a letter is being sent to her surgery to tell the doctors there to stop cutting down her pain medicine. There is one doctor at her surgery who, if he intercepts her repeat prescriptions, has a nasty habit or refusing them on the grounds she has been taking them too long. This has been causing Lorii a lot of stress, as well as leaving her in quite a bit of pain on occasion. Anyway, Lorii is pretty pleased with these new developments, and we are both hoping this is some real progress towards her being cured.

Katie has won a scholarship to study extra maths on a five week seminar at Edge Hill University. We could never have afforded this extra tuition and are very proud of her. Her first day is today so I'm expecting her to come home full of tales about how wonderful university is. This will be her first experience of a campus environment and she was pretty excited.

I have bought a bench drill and am trying my hand at a little light metalwork. The idea it to see if I can make something that may sell well on ebay. Whether I succeed or not is moot a the moment as I'm simply enjoying the process of remembering and learning knew skills. If I actually manage to make anything worth showing off I'll post pictures.