how to split a pill

I saw a video of how to split a pill (tablet form). Place the pill on a hard, flat surface. Then place an index finger of each hand on either side of the score and press down. The pill snaps cleanly at the score. Just that simple. No tools required. I discovered that it works with certain pills even when the pill is not scored (like doggie's pain pills). I wish I can find the video again, but I haven't been succesful. If you find the video, please drop me the link. Thanks in advance.

FlameDisk

This thing gets you cooking over an open flame in minutes with no mess. Camping. Tailgate partying. Roughing it during a power outtage. Or just visiting at grandma's. Not readily available in Texas yet (we'll have to mail order). So there you go. Grab one and get to grillin' ... then share with us how it turned out. Thanks.
FlameDisk

doggie is home

Doggie is home now. Car is in the shop. Our pocketbook needs rescuing.

Doggie is pretty exhausted and sleeps most of the time (thank goodness). I fed him his dinner, a bland canned food that the vet sent, and he ate just fine. Then he wanted to play so he was active for a while (moving around and not lying down for long), then he was ready for potty. Now he's sleeping again, thank goodness.

Vet gave us the stuff retrieved from his stomach. It stinks. Gumby wants to keep it for show and tell. I've washed it in Tide. I've washed it in dish detergent. I've let it sit out in the sun in our 100 degree heat today in hopes that UV kills stuff. Right now it's in a plastic bag with a bunch of baking soda. Other ideas: washing it in tomato juice since they use that for skunk stink, washing it in hydrogen peroxide to kill stuff, spray the hell out of it with Lysol ... whatever chemical activity is going on with the stuff, I want to stop it.

sweltering

96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 deg. Celsius)
38% humidity
101 deg. F heat index

crazy week

What a week. Wednesday p.m. I was at work and got a call from home. The air conditioner is not working. One of the toilets is not working. I go home and try to check on both. A friend guided me on the air conditioner and got it to limp along (the fan on the outside unit needs a little help to get it going). That same night I changed out a tire because apparently my car is out of alignment and it's wearing out the inside edge of my tire. It's almost bald there. Not wanting to risk a blowout as I drive, I change out the tire with my spare.

Thursday a.m. the A/C is not working again (since I was sleeping, I wasn't out there to give the fan a little help). The dog threw up. So I go clean that up. Plus it's the day to get the trash together and put it out. We thought our friend was coming to fix the A/C. I go to work, leaving gumby to deal with all that. By midday the dog had thrown up again. He continued to throw up as the day wore on. Gumby was constantly cleaning up. Our friend did eventually come and fix the A/C late that evening and diagnosed the toilet. I get home and I bathe the dog. He threw up 4 or 5 more times before we went to bed around 3 a.m., then again some time in the middle of the night, then again before 7 a.m., waking me up.

Gumby took him to the vet. I went to work. The dog was near death by the time he got to the vet. He was all dehydrated and his electrolytes were all out of whack. The vet re-scheduled a bunch of appointments and worked on saving him. He had eaten his bed over weeks if not months and that stuff was stuck in his stomach, which is now maybe three times larger than normal (but you can't tell by just looking at him). After giving him I-V treatment and stabilizing him, they were able to do surgery and remove that gunk from his stomach. They'll keep him over the weekend. My fault for not having prevented the dog from eating large amounts of that stuff; I thought it was all passing through.

Workwise, I've had maybe 4 or 5 hours to work on what I needed to work on. I've been stuck in meetings, with Thursday and Friday being day-long meetings. I've taken the work home, and hope to have the stamina to work on it this weekend.

My car still needs an alignment. Gumby can take it to the shop for me on Monday; I just don't know how the dollars are going to work out. I still need to straighten up the house. I have cleaned the crate yesterday, but would like to go back and do a more thorough disinfecting. I'm thinking I'll clean it with the same stuff recommended for cleaning refrigerators.

gate results

The J-B Weld seems to be holding for now. This was the second application. On the first application, the J-B Weld pulled the surface treatment off the brick. There's a layer of something on the brick to give it its texture; that came off. So I re-applied the J-B weld to the same spot now that it's cleaned off, and it seems to be holding. The close-up shot shows a failed attempt below it; I had tried some other epoxy before and it didn't work.

Actually, when the J-B Weld didn't work the first time, I attempted to drill into the brick so that I can set an anchor for a screw. After about an hour and I'd gotten only maybe 1/4 inch into the brick, I decided that J-B Weld was worth another try.

That might be too big a job for the one bracket and one screw into the post. I might go find another bracket that would allow me to put two screws into the post and add it.

I've discovered that I need a handle on the inside too, since the gate needs a slight lift into the paddle latch to close. I had positioned the latch to support the gate (not just capture it). Perhaps I shouldn't have, but it's done. It has definitely been a learning experience.

Matthew

I was listening to the reading of Matthew this morning as I watered the two trees and fed the critters, thanks to MP3 and MP3 player technology. I was surprised upon hearing what I hadn't noticed before (items in color):

Matthew 27: 50-53
But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Matthew 28: 1-8
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you." Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.

(text copied from the USCCB website)

I didn't know the bodies were raised and they walked about the city. I didn't remember that an angel rolled away the stone from the tomb and sat on it and said what's indicated there.

gate - almost there

The gate turned out ok. It took all afternoon yesterday.

The first photo shows my set up for stabilizing the gate so that I can get the hinges installed.

I still have a wedge in the gate in the second photo because the hinge post has a tendency to lean with the weight of the gate. I've obtained an L-bracket and J-B Weld and attempted to secure the top of the post to the brick. That was last night. The J-B Weld should have cured by noon. If it works out, I'll post a picture to show what I'm talking about. Final touch would be to saw off the extra 4x4, but that can be put off until who-knows-when.

just checking in

Hectic times these days at work. And next week I'll have to start (and finish) a part of my work that I reeeeally don't enjoy and which I struggle with.

I purchased a Sandisk Sansa Clip MP3 player this week since they were on sale at Office Depot. I can now listen on-the-go to the MP3 New Testament and such. I also grabbed some downloads from the EWTN website: some Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR; Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.; and Fr. John Corapi, SOLT. I was hoping to get some MP3s from Dr. Scott Hahn's site but the audio repository seems to not be working.

I met with my Dominican liaison last week over dinner at a quiet restaurant. It was planned that way, but aside from us there were maybe two only other tables with people. She gave some info on the going-ons in the Order, discussed some of the other seekers who are interested in joining the Order, and the near-term plans for additional vocational activities. I talked some about my family. She gave me another requirement for me to meet before I can apply for entrance. Oh well. My debt is the mountain I have to move right now, I'm not really concerned with other barriers for the time being. I haven't asked for the full set of requirements for entrance ... it could be that I'm supposed to bring a wheelbarrow of money with me if I am to enter, ya never know. No point in hashing those details now. The rules could all change by the time my debt is paid off. Heck, I could be hit by a beer truck between now and then and everything would be moot.

Tomorrow I will meet with my spiritual adivsor. As usual, I am not at all prepared for that. I suppose I'm not very organized. Tomorrow I also hope to get a haircut, though I'm itching to finish the fence I started. It irritates me that I'm so close to finishing it and yet I can't get to it. I'm also a little anxious that it might turn out rather crappy, i.e. significantly misaligned in one plane or another. At the same time, I've recognized that it is what is, and it will be what it will be.

Logos bible software

Logos bible software

If you've been looking for software to assist you in your Bible study, they might have what you seek. The link is to their Catholic section for your convenience. So there it is; give it a go. It is an attractive site. Good Luck.

fence still needs gate

I worked on building the front fence on one side of the house this weekend. Yesterday I was able to dig out the old middle post and set a new one in its place. I stained new wood and pickets and put those up.

Today I set the post by the house for the gate. I stained new wood and pickets built the new gate. I was hoping to be able to hang the frame and then install the pickets, but the frame wasn't stiff enough without the pickets. So I built the whole gate. Now it weighs a ton. I was trying to figure out how to hang it, but I ran out of daylight. I think what I'll do is make props to stabilize the thing so that I can install the hinges. I need to make sure the hinge pins are perfectly vertical. One good thing: the gate WILL fit in the space between the two posts. I can't tell if it'll end up aligned with the rest of the fence.

gravel

Whew! I was at a landscaping place at 7:30 a.m. this morning to get gravel. I had to make a judgment call on which gravel I wanted; I ended up with granite gravel. The guy said that is what is commonly used to make the walk paths in parks. I purchased 1/4 of a "yard" for $20 plus tax. Much cheaper than the bagged stuff in the stores! I was armed with an assortment of buckets, some empty kitty litter bags, and a shovel. I mean the bags that the kitty litter comes in. Those bags are tough. Our doggie hasn't destroyed the one bag I let him play with.

An employee (actually, he might have been the owner) comes with a front loader truck (I think that's what it's called), scoops some off the big pile of gravel, and dumps it on the ground for me. I shovel from the small pile into little containers and put the containers in the car. Then I got to the big containers, where they have to be filled while they're in the car because there is no way they can be lifted. The gravel is HEAVY! Then one of the guys came out and shoveled the remainder for me. This was the harder part becuase the shovelful now has to be lifted into the car. The large containers were the two 16-gallon pots that our two trees came in, and a 50-gallon size "contractor" garbage bag.

I was concerned about the weight. From very brief research on the internet, I had estimated that it would be approximately 800 lbs. (assuming a "yard" meant a "cubic yard"). My car is specified to handle a load of 1,1xx lbs. Since I weigh less than 200 lbs. my car should be able to handle the combined load of gravel and myself. But I had not counted on the gravel being a little wet. Fortunately, my car pulled through and I'm very proud of my steed. I did 30 mph through neighborhood streets to get home.

Once home, it was imperative that I unload the car as soon as possible. I do believe the car grunted in relief with each little load I took off. Some two hours later I've cleared the car and moved all that gravel to the backyard. Did I say that the gravel was heavy? The gravel is HEAVY. I'm whipped. The critters have not had their breakfast yet, but they'll have to wait until I get a little rested. Considering that they didn't get their dinner until some time after 1 a.m. last night, they should be just fine.

eyesight restored?

cornea improved after wearing contacts coated with stem cells ... LINK