Everything Old Is New Again

I was watching the kid play Kingdom Hearts III while I was folding some origami models last night.

"So your character, Sora, where does he live?"
"He doesn't really have a home."
"Okaay..." I watch as Sora does his thing. "He's beating up random strangers in a dark alley. And he gets rewards when he does this?"
"Yeah." She's madly clicking away on the controller. "Watch this!"
"Wow, okay. Sora did some cool little parkour-ish tricks on a barrel for a crowd, for money. Now you're running through town bashing shit open and taking what you find." Sora jumps up on a trolley.
"Uh huh. And look, you can find stuff to eat!"

I give her some quality side-eye and stifle a snort. "Congrats, you're a hobo."
A shout of shocked laughter. "What?! I am NOT!" This just as Sora eats something out of an abandoned Chinese takeout box sitting on the ground.

"You're eating out of roadside leftovers." Sora is dumpster diving and eating what he finds, which appears to be pizza. I tick off the points on my fingers. "Beating up strangers and taking their stuff. You're homeless. Hopping trains. You're roaming around the countryside, hanging out with two other loners who's only purpose is to inflict random acts of violence on strangers, and you take side jobs as goons to beat up 'bad guys'." Sora has now broken into a closed business, a toy store, and is whaling away on the place, wrecking the stock and rooting around finding more God-knows-how-old-food-to-eat. "Sora just huffed some helium. And you've finished by crawling through the ventilation ducts of this place, which are filthy, hoping to find food ingredients to share with a rat."

A moment of silence as realization dawns, then more laughter. "Oh God, I AM a hobo!"

Just for continuity's sake, later on in this game she went on to become a pirate, Sora waxing rhapsodic over how much he was looking forward to piracy--you know, that whole raping/murdering/pillaging/STDs thing...
Yeah, basically a seagoing hobo.
Oh, and one of the goals in the pirate part of the game is to...wait for it...catch crabs.
I shit you not.

Can't wait to see where this game ends up.

Ouch, But...Yay!

Right knee has been bullied into submission thanks to pain control injections directly into the thrice-damned thing by my trusty pain doc. Today I can actually walk on it again, yay!

The injections sites hurt, and I didn't get much sleep last night, but today the over-the-top pain that I'd been dealing with since June has been thwacked into submission most of the way.

He wasn't able to drain the cyst, he said it was 'too spongy' (ick). That is something that may have to be cut out, time will tell.

The Finger That Wouldn't Die...

Despite all indications that it would really, REALLY like to.

The spider bite to my left index finger has provided, if nothing else, educational opportunities combined with mystery--what color will it turn next? What's that oozing from under my fingernail? Can it hurt MORE?

All these things have been mine this week, and more! Joy.

On Friday the skin on the end of my finger had formed a hard, plastic-like shell, so I soaked my finger in warm water for a bit and peeled it off. Vast improvement, and I was relieved to see pink healthy tissue beneath. Weird experience though. Now I just have to wait and see if this thing is going to let me keep my fingernail...so far the answer is leaning towards 'not on your life'.

It appears more mystery is still ahead.

Too Many Irons In The Fire...

Medically speaking. Between myself, my husband and the kid, it's been the Summer Of Medical Issues at our house, continuing it's wildly popular sold-out run into the Fall!

yay.

And, southern California is burning. Again.

Horrid Tasty Thing

So this afternoon I was out enjoying the waning of the day...the chickens had been fed and were wandering contentedly about the yard...my daughter was playing happily with the bubbles I was blowing.

Suddenly, one of the young chickens darts across the yard over by the coop in what was clearly the furtive "I've got a really cool goodie" dash, with three other birds in hot pursuit. Problem is, I haven't handed out anything, and it was clearly a large, tasty something that this chicken had in his beak. Off I go to give chase, wondering what the heck they've gotten into NOW. As I join the chicken parade and we all double-time it in circles around the yard, the Tasty Thing is looking more and more like...a fish.

A smallish fish, to be sure...

Wondering how in the Hell a fish has made it into my landlocked suburban yard, I get serious about getting Tasty Thing away from a very determined bird. By now the rest of the chickens have wisely given up the chase, since Phoenix has it, and the Head Hen (me) is obviously showing waaaay too much interest in Tasty Thing.

Except now Tasty Thing is actually looking kinda like a human finger...! A decrepit and rotting finger, but still very fingerlike nonetheless.

At this point I pick up my daughter's toy shovel, intent on getting Horrid Tasty Thing OUT of my pet's beak. Meanwhile, my husband, who throughout this entire time has been on the roof working on the air conditioner and has had a ringside seat to this fiasco, is shouting, "What is it? What IS it?!"

"I dunno!" I yell back, brandishing the toy shovel at Phoenix, who has by now taken refuge under the patio table. NOW, here comes my 4 year old daughter to 'help', saints preserve us. I make one last, desperate, blind lunge at the chicken under the table, and am rewarded with a loud squawk. To my relief the offended bird runs out from under the other side of the table, sans Horrid Tasty Thing. Oh goodie, now I get to play with it.

"Jesus!" I involuntarily yell when I finally get a good look at it.

"What IS IT?!" Again from the roof, sounding anguished and disturbed.

"Uh...." Ugh, necessity dictates that I now look closely at Horrid Tasty Thing, assisted by a half-hearted prod from a handy nearby stick.

"Geez, it's a SNAKE!" I call up to the roof. Actually it's just the head and an inch or two of neck/body, and judging by the many beak holes in it, is obviously a discarded snack from the local crows...double ugh...

"Where in the Hell did they get a snake?!" from above in disbelief.

I don't know, but I've learned that where there's one, there's more. By the way, my brain whispers to me...where's the REST of Horrid Tasty Thing? 

Away to the coop I fly, searching for more bits and pieces. To my relief I don't find any, but this is also worrisome since I now wonder if my preschooler will be next to produce a grisly offering. I return to further inspect the decapitated monster, and decide that what it really is, is a REALLY BIG lizard. Great. Lizards we have in abundance and I welcome them, although I much prefer them alive. Much better.

That poor chicken never did get Horrid Tasty Thing returned to him, but I did slip him a piece of pizza crust to help sooth  ruffled feathers.

Ahh, another sleepy day in suburbia...