Neocolours

@usul

have you every lost a nail? I have unfortunately lost the same toenail on my big toe 4 or 5 times, it's grown in sort of uneven instead of smooth, but looks fine, it's only when you run your finger over it that you can tell the difference. It only started growing in like that after the 3rd time i do believe, so if this is the first time you've lost that nail you might be in luck and it will grow back with no noticeable difference.

PS-I envy you your hot tub, my joints have been so bad!

@Alecko, sorry to hear about your laptop!

Achieveawoe: After nearly 10 years of avoiding it, i've gotten sucked into the black hole of World of Warcraft. Some friends of mine gave me some WoW software and in-game goodies, including a bunch of expansions and a spectral steed for when i reach level 20 (which should be soon). I only plan to have the one character, a Night Elf hunter.

I feel for you. I started playing WoW sporadically late 2006 and then regularly since the first expansion (Burning Crusade). I've taken breaks twice but have always come back

Just play in moderation and you'll be fine

Spoiler: open/close

No one ever plays in moderation

Two major things happened to me this year. One bad and one good.

The bad is that my dad has Alzheimers and had to go into a nursing home. It has been a huge adjustment but he is doing as well as can be expected.
The good is that I met a guy online and he took me to Hawaii! It was an amazing trip and I'm now in a long distance relationship

At Christmastime this year, when we were putting out stockings, I made a rather morbid joke that it might be the last time for a while we need our rat stocking. I didn't mean it horribly, but since all of our rats were getting up there in years, I said it rather as a passing fact. I feel like I jinxed us.

This month, all within weeks, we lost our last three rats. First Walnut, our youngest, died suddenly and unexpectedly. Exactly one week later, his cagemate, Fen (aka Big Squish, our big, fat, round little man) had to be euthanized due to a massive infection; he had an abscess that would not drain or heal due to a tumor pushing behind it and there was nothing we could do. He was in pain - and he was completely lost without Walnut, so we did the only thing we could do.

Then today, out of nowhere, our last girl Porkchop slumped to her side and went cold. We tried warming her up, coaxed her with heat and rubbing and baby food, and she seemed to perk up a bit, but a few hours later she was gone. We're not sure what happened - perhaps a sudden stroke? We'll never know.

For the first time in seven years, Lindsey and I have no rats. Our house feels very cold and empty.

Oh no. I'm so sorry for your and Lindsey's losses.

Sorry to hear that, Jessi, and to lose all three suddenly in close succession too. *hugs*

I have a bit over a week to indulge in San Francisco Bay/Oakland/San Jose/Fremont area goodness, between tomorrow and Feb 7. If any of you are in the area and want to meet up, PM me.

EDIT - Nice trip! My husband has three nice nerdly certifications thanks to 9 days of hard studying and testing.
I saw one of my favorite musicians in concert again. indeed indulged in SF Bay goodness, and played some laser tag and mini golf. I also bought a lot of obscure 80s toys, including an Intellivision with its box; i just need a TV connection cord.
Unfortunately, during the trip, my computer started acting up, so now that we're home, my computer is away for a week or two for repairs, and i'm making do with my husband's computer. I'm grateful he's a nice guy to let me take over for half an hour during prime gaming time. It's taking some adjustment for me, though.

Re: Kali_Lupine, it grew back after about 6 weeks. When I went to the doctor on an unrelated visit, he advised that the hinge would need to be pulled out, or be pushed out naturally by the new nail. It looks just as pretty as my old one did.

Major achievement with a side of woe:

I have reached my three thousand dollar mark for lasik eye surgery! I am exceptionally near-sighted, but can still be corrected to 20/20. The upside to living with your parents is that you save up hundreds more than you thought possible, and you won't accrue any additional debt for the Masters Degree.

What is the downside to all of this? Caring for my aging 82-year old grandmother in a hoveround, (who now lives with us) and having conversations with my parents that they don't see as TMI at all at my age.

Censored so I won't ruin your day:

Spoiler: open/close

I went up north with my mom to go fishing. We stayed at a nearby hotel, and I forgot to bring a mattress pad.

Me: I hate sleeping on hotel beds!
Mom: Why?
Me: Because what do you think thousands of people have done on this bed before I've slept in it!
Mom: That's not that gross, there's semen stains on my mattress and it doesn't bother me.
Me: ...

WHY WOULD YOU REMIND ME ABOUT HOW I CAME INTO EXISTENCE, LET ALONE THE IDEA IT ACTIVELY CONTINUES AFTER 30 YEARS OF MARRIAGE?!?!
Not to mention that my dad set Youjizz as his homepage on his phone the day he got it for Christmas.

I'm considering investing the money into a nearby apartment after about 7 months of saving after this conversation. That totally burst my bubble on this hokey, lovebird relationship thing that you're supposed to envision about your parents being married that long.
....Not that I never knew, I just prefer very obvious denial.

Those of you on my Facebook already saw me post about this, but today was a very amazing day for Washingtonians like me - today the Washington state Governor signed the Gay Marriage act into law! It won't go into effect until June, but it's still a really amazing thing. Washington is the 7th state to allow gay marriage (well 8th if you count Washington DC), which is still a really small percentage out of 50 - but still! I'm a very proud Washingtonian right now, and Lindsey and I will be getting officially married this June!

Congrats Jessi and Lindsey. It's really bad that finally being able to get married is such a great thing. (In a you should have always been able to do that way.) But still, yeeeey for you (and Washington!)

Jessi: Congratulations! I hope you two will be very happy together.~

I went to my LASIK evaluation today. A 3 hour long process, and I was not a good candidate. (My cornea is too flat. This is a problem because I'm too nearsighted, and a very round cornea is needed to remove a lot of tissue to get to 20/20). Currently I'm -9.50 in one eye and -10.00 in the other. They'd get me to a -3 at best. Long story short, it isn't worth the risks. He didn't want to damage a perfectly healthy cornea for an attempt at better vision.

I was really broken up about it this morning, but my mom took me to the Coach outlet store so we could treat ourselves to a new bag. She's a good mom.

On the good side, I do have a sizeable amount saved up. I can actually take a vacation. (Or possibly, save it).

A week and a half ago, our little Cairo was very sick. She wouldn't eat, was throwing up several times a day, was completely lethargic... we had no idea what was wrong with her and STILL have no idea. X-rays came up perfectly clean and she had no fever! The good news is, when she got the x-rays, our vet did a barium treatment to help see if anything was blocking her up, and the barium is apparently a magical ~cure all~, haha - because it coats the stomach and intestines, it helped her gain her healthy appetite back and she started eating again! The vet thinks she may have swallowed something she shouldn't have, which ended up passing through but left her stomach very sore and raw.

We might not know what went wrong, but that's okay! Now she's perfectly healthy, eating like a horse, and back to getting into all sorts of trouble. She's also discovered her new favorite place to sleep - on our HD cable box, which gets extremely warm when it's on xD

My dad passed away. He had a stroke a few weeks ago and was declining rapidly since. He died peacefully in his sleep which is a small bit of comfort.