Ups and Downs

The Ups

We have TV service! Finally, after two and a half months! And we don't have to pay for it, at least not any more than our initial investment.

The thing is, we got so used to not paying for TV in Ridgecrest, we didn't really want to do it here either. But we weren't sure what kind of over-the-air coverage we could get in Boulder. Yes, we're near a big city, but for various complicated reasons involving mountains and a quiet zone, TV service has never been good here. When we lived here before, we only got a couple of channels over the air, so I signed us up for cable.

But we've gotten cheaper in our old age. Not to mention less employed.

Anyway, long story short, yesterday Rocket Boy bought an antenna on craigslist for $35. And today he bought a ladder on craigslist for $30. And this afternoon he climbed up the ladder to the roof to put up the antenna.

I was nervous about this, because the sky was filled with clouds and the occasional clap of thunder could be heard. But Rocket Boy is pretty fearless.

Soon after he went up, however, I heard the sound of running feet above me on the roof (I'd gone back inside). And it didn't sound like squirrels.

Yes, that's right, the twins climbed up the ladder after their father and were soon running around on the top of the roof. They ran over to the east side of the roof and called to our nice neighbor, who came out to see what was going on and screamed when she saw them. "I thought they would be more discrete than that," Rocket Boy said to me later, obviously living in a fantasy world where five-year-olds are discrete. I personally spent some time standing on the lawn yelling at the twins not to run, not to go near the edge, not to fool around, not to chase each other, and most importantly, not to fall off the roof, but after a while I got tired of yelling and went back inside to wait for almost certain disaster.

Which, luckily, didn't occur. And now the ladder has been safely stowed away and we have TV service!

We have a very interesting array of channels, including two PBS channels (6 and 12), ABC and NBC, and various independent channels that show very odd things. It's vastly more service than we ever got before the digital conversion. Of course, digital is different from analog, and so, when a signal fades out a bit, instead of getting static, you get to watch the whole picture sort of break apart into little cubes, and then a screen comes up saying you've lost the signal and it's trying to acquire it again, which is distracting. I'd prefer static. But for the most part the channels come in clearly.

I'm not a big TV watcher, but I like PBS and I like being able to watch local news. So I'm a very happy camper right now. And we've spent all the money we need to spend on TV from now until the antenna blows off the roof in the next big windstorm.

The Downs

Pie Bear has diabetes.

Oh fat black cat, so beautiful and so large. He's always seemed so healthy, despite his girth. We had him tested for diabetes a couple of years ago in Ridgecrest (at the vet's recommendation) and he passed the test no problem.

That was then; this is now. After we got home from the YMCA camp, we noticed that Pie was acting odd. Demanding food in the middle of the night, drinking lots of water, yowling. Where had our so-mellow-he's-going-to-rot cat gone? So we took him to the vet -- though this was complicated because our old vet who I loved apparently retired in May, just before we got back here. So we went to the veterinary practice she'd given her old records too. They seem OK, but we were a little suspicious when the bill for Pie's first visit was almost $300.

Anyway, one of the millions of tests they did revealed that Pie is diabetic. So now we have to give him insulin injections twice a day.

Insulin is EXPENSIVE. Nearly $200 for that little bottle.

Rocket Boy has done the injections so far. This morning he asked me if I'd like to give it a try, so I nervously squeezed 2 "units" into the needle, found Pie, made a little "tent" of his skin, attempted to stick the needle into his skin... and promptly stuck the needle into my finger. Yowch! (Fortunately I didn't press down, so the insulin didn't go into me, but the needle did draw blood.) I handed the needle to Rocket Boy and told him to do it.

But I think I could do it if I had to.

Pie is much more chipper already, and has lost a bit of weight, so maybe this will not be a total disaster. He now weighs just under 20 lbs (the highest weight we've recorded for him was 22 lbs), and the vet would like him to weigh 14 lbs. Poor kitty -- he's on a pretty serious diet now. But if he does manage to lose some weight, the diabetes may go away again for a while, which would be wonderful.

We're saving some money not having to pay for TV service, but it's not quite enough to cover Pie's medical bills.