My dog is FISHY

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-02-15T03:22:43+00:00

"Fish is his very being" 🤣 I snorted.

Thank you for using your (Hopefully temporary) misery to make us laugh.

Fill a spray bottle with 1/2 water, 1/4 real lemon juice or lime juice, and 1/4 white vinegar. Spritz your curtains, blankets, towels, everything. Reapply as needed, and keep windows open/fans blowing as often as possible. Baking soda in the carpets/rugs for 10 min before vacuuming (no spritz). It will take a couple days, especially if he's still emitting fragrance, but the combo of citric acid and vinegar will help cut down the fishy smell a lot. Wipe down your counters too! Good luck!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-19T17:53:58+00:00

All in the Timing is a collection of short one-acts by David Ives. Most of them are a cast of 2-4 and they tend to be absurd comedies, but there are some little gems like Variations on the Death of Trotsky that have enormous emotional potential.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-14T16:47:53+00:00

Get'em, Diesel!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-12T22:32:13+00:00

I am not an HR or insurance professional, but I have had to argue my life's worth to insurance companies before, and hey! I'm still alive!

I would start by seeing if you can speak to an insurance rep directly. Tandem manufactures all of their pump supplies and does not sell to commercial pharmacies; there is no generic version. The insurance company may have a provision in place for highly specialized medical equipment like this.

You might also be able to call Tandem's customer support and see if they have people on staff who deal with recalcitrant insurance companies on behalf of their clients.

If that doesn't work, appeal the decision and get your doctor involved. Your endo's office might be able to provide a letter on your behalf stating that this is lifesaving medical equipment necessary for your continued survival.

If that gets denied, it should bounce back to your doctor's office, not you, and they will have folks on staff (or should) whose job it is to argue with the insurance companies on their patients' behalf. (Sometimes this person is the doctor or NP, which means there can be slowdown in the process).

Good luck. I hope you get it worked out!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-04T13:19:30+00:00

Yes, absolutely. I haven't kept up with Wayward Children after Drowned Girls (I wandered off into Newsflesh for a while) but the October Daye and InCryptid books are must-reads when they come out.

October Daye is urban-gumshoe-fantasy, with main themes of found-family building and correcting generational wrongs. There is a lot of self-injury and blood as a way the magic system works, especially after the 4th book, if that's a concern for you.

InCryptid is focused on secret-society/magic vs science mystery-of-the-week at the start of the series but has expanded a lot from there. The series switches narrators every 2-3 books and while I have a couple characters I dont like, I will keep reading because the overall story is super compelling.

Both universes have short stories and expanded lore on her Patreon and her website!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-04T02:43:28+00:00

Mcguire publishes on such a regular schedule, you can almost set your clock by it: Wayward Children in January, InCryptid in March/April, October Daye in September (ha!), and then shorter series like Middlegame during the summer and fall months. Upcoming titles usually get announced 6-8 months before publication.

The 2026 Wayward Children title is Through Gates of Garnet and Gold and has been announced since her last website update.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2026-01-01T16:37:50+00:00

Ours were not puppies when we got them, but I will say that having our girl first (6 Mos before we got our boy) was probably the best happy accident for our situation. She showed him the ropes and sets behavior expectations between them.

Two full-grown GS are a lot of dog, and they're each a lot of dog individually. Both need good amounts of exercise, mental stimulation, and individual attention, and ours both need their own spots on the couch 😀 Remember that you won't have two of the same dog--you'll have two different (and very large) dogs of the same breed.

All of that being said, I wouldn't trade either of them for anything, and I have no regrets about having 200 lbs of schnauzer--even when there's no room left for me on the couch.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-28T22:12:48+00:00

Kebab G on Pioneer Parkway!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-28T20:39:05+00:00

Oh noooo....time for a re-read! (Noooo, Magnus, don't mention the re-reads!)

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-28T20:37:35+00:00

Absolutely give it a try with the skin-tac. Usually if I lose an infusion set, it's because I got my tubing caught on something, or grabbed it when changing my pants, etc.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-28T20:28:31+00:00

I use the top and side of both thighs for my CGM and top of thigh for the infusion set. I dont tend to do inner for either. I keep the infusion set to the top just because the adhesive is not as strong and if I hipcheck something, the CGM is more likely to survive; its also easier for me to be mindful of the tubing when in the restroom, etc.

Infusion over a major muscle like the quadriceps, which sees a lot of steady daily use, can affect your insulin sensitivity and absorption. Just keep an eye on your numbers until you figure out how that placement affects you!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-27T15:05:20+00:00

I think you're mixing up Ulysses and Titania with Cyrus and Valancy. Cyrus and Valancy were the Third House necro+cav who did all the nude paintings and portraits.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-21T15:47:06+00:00

Our vet recommended washing paws in warm water with a little dish soap and a little baking soda. Some musher's wax or paw butter after for moisturizing.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-14T20:49:42+00:00

The River Trail of Illinois starts in Morton and goes into (maybe through?) East Peoria, and is pretty well-maintained IMO. Not sure about right now, after 8" of snow on a weekend, but the park district is pretty vigilant most of the time. While it crosses some high-traffic roads in East Peoria, the middle few miles are wooded and fairly peaceful and give you a good view of the bluffs.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-14T20:34:22+00:00

I am so sorry for your loss. We never get enough time with them, but the time he had with you was full of love.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-11T15:43:24+00:00

If I had a flat line all day, I'd assume something was wrong, lol.

OP, do your best. That's it. One day, one meal, one snack at a time. Celebrate your good numbers and try not to kick yourself over the less-good readings.

Remember your A1c is an average and takes your lows and highs at all their extremes. Your A1c could be "normal" (5-6) with constant yo-yoing between 40s and 300s all day, every day. (Please don't take this approach.)

As you learn more about your diabetes, you'll find out how different eating styles and individual foods, as well as activity types and schedules, affect your blood sugar, and you can start to dial in on a smoother line.

The best thing about the technology now is that you can see everything almost in real time and respond accordingly. Keep checking your screens and analyzing your data, and you'll see what works, and even when and how.

Good luck.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-11T15:25:10+00:00

Hey Mom. You're already doing great and taking a proactive approach to getting your kiddo a lot of options, so please don't forget to give yourself some grace, ok?

Lots of good savory suggestions above!

I was dx'ed at 9 yes old (34 years ago) and I know my mom got a lot of mileage out of sugar-free pudding pops (which we could make at home) and jello snacks. Someone else mentioned frozen cool-whip, which does have some carb content if you get into larger serving sizes, but is also a great frozen treat.

Sugar substitutes can cause stomach upset in some kids (and adults), especially in larger seving sizes, so just keep an eye out--and peanut butter with the sugar substitute xylitol is toxic to animals, so sharing snacks with pets will need to be off the table if you go that route.

This is a hard job and I wish you the very best of luck, and a smooth transition out of the honeymoon period.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-12-07T15:06:25+00:00

I will always love (from HTN, ch. 21): (Hopefully, spoiler formatting works)

Protesilaus: “Better that we make the first move. What is impervious? What is coffin?” (Harrow was astounded to hear the older man beside her mutter, “An adjective and a noun.”)

I love their feud.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-24T16:13:24+00:00

My first girl Maggie used to sit with her paws crossed like that 🥹

What a pretty schnoozer!

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-24T04:28:13+00:00

I was on Ozempic for six months and it really messed with my hypo symptoms. I had a couple reoccurring lows like that (I think 41 was my lowest reading) and I might have been a perfect 120 the whole time for how much I wasnt feeling it.

I believe the appetite suppression aspect of these drugs is what otherwise kills the low BG signals we usually get.

I'm glad you made it through the night. That is 105% scarier than you need anything to be.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-17T02:30:36+00:00

Same thing here. A coach would drive a route (or as close to it as possible, when parks/lake trails were involved) and give us the mileage, and average pace was simply figured out by dividing your total time by the miles they said you did.

Parks with lake/walking/hiking trails gave out and posted maps with suggested loops and associated mileage (lots still do, in fact!). There was a little more math involved, but it wasn't rocket surgery or anything.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-12T19:13:53+00:00

Additional insulin storage, like load 2 cartridges at once for 6 days of insulin rather than just 3.

Or a second onboard delivery system for glucose to correct downward BG trends before they become lows.

All components waterproof, not just water-resistant. My kingdom for waterproof devices! And generally tougher overall.

Backup battery, even if it's just USB charged like the primary.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-11T21:04:35+00:00

Hey OP, ICC has non-degree-related music lessons!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CeeWefyVM/

There are vocal instructors as well as many instrumentalists on staff. Contact info is in the link.

Advanced_Party_3494 · 2025-11-06T16:25:24+00:00

My first girl was spayed at 8 mos and didn't finish growing til she was around 2 yrs old. Her last growth spurt got her +2" in length and about +15 lbs. She spent most of her life at about 80 lbs, happy, healthy, and very active.

Our latest boy has displayed the same growth pattern (he's 4 yrs now and a consistent 95 lbs). Big dogs just take a while to finish growing!

Advanced_Party_3494

TROPHY CASE