Answers To Your Questions Part 2

Julie @ Midlife Jobhunter asks: What do you think of the Kindle. Just read a piece in the New Yorker. Not sure I'm convinced so looking for opinions of those who use them. I don't have a Kindle, but I'd love to have one. (See the sidebar, I've jumped on the bandwagon and already have all 3 of my blogs listed in Kindle Blogs.) I have a Palm Z22 which I guess is probably the last PDA that isn't also a cell phone with internet access. I cannot live without it since my Palm i705 died. It is my calendar, it is my life. It syncs to my computer. I've got several ebooks downloaded on it and when I worked I used it to read on the Metra train. Obviously the screen is way smaller on the Palm Z22, but the concept is the same. I think in a few years Kindles will be as common as Ipods. There, I've said it!
Julie @ Midlife Jobhunter asks:
Oh, and what's the harvest in your garden right now. Be sure to check out my other blog, Lola's Victory Garden. I just recently harvested 1 head of cauliflower, 2 cucumbers, a bunch of cherry tomatoes and a couple of regular tomatoes. We also have broccoli and zucchini that is coming along nicely, as well as Tomatillos and Sunflowers that have taken over our driveway.

A. Marie @ My Money Mission Online asks: Hi there! I am getting tons of tomatoes, dill, and cucumbers from my garden....the sunflowers are also blooming beautifully. What are you getting from your garden? Be sure to check out my other blog, Lola's Victory Garden. I just recently harvested 1 head of cauliflower, 2 cucumbers, a bunch of cherry tomatoes and a couple of regular tomatoes. We also have broccoli and zucchini that is coming along nicely, as well as Tomatillos and Sunflowers.

Jane Doe @ Jane's Writing asks: 1. What is your favorite book or author (or both)? I don't know that I have a favorite book or author. I tend to be all over the place when I do read. I enjoy biographies. I was recently reading "My Life In France - Julia Child", but didn't get very far into it before it had to be returned to the library. I guess everyone wants to read it since the movie. I was enjoying it though, and if I had the funds I would have just bought it. I'm a big fan of "The Left Behind Series", which seems kind of odd. There hasn't been a new book in the series since 2007 though.

2. If you had to choose between saving a loved one (child, spouse, or lover etc.) or 7 strangers, which would you choose? And no, you can't save them all. Realistically, I would be lucky to be able to save myself and a loved one, considering my disabling back pain and limited capabilities.

This was fun! I think we'll do it again!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays - First Apartment

Come join me for this week's edition. Post yours Thursday and comeback and sign up with MckLinky.

This Thursday's topic is: First Apartment -

This topic is courtesy of JHS @ Colloquium. Because I've used JHS's topic, I am awarding her 100 Entrecard Credits. For details on how you can submit a topic, and if used, earn 100 Entrecard Credits, click here.
What are your First Apartment stories?
How small was it? How did you furnish it? Did you have a roommate?

I got my first apartment in June 1988. I was 27 years old. What can I say? I had a cheap thing going living at home! I could afford a big car payment. It was all about the car back then...a brand new 1984 Cutlass Supreme, yes, I had my priorities! In 1988 suddenly I had the itch to get my own place, far, far, far away from Milwaukee. Chicago was it!

I took a few Ferris days to go apartment shopping and found one fairly reasonable on Pine Grove, near Broadway and Addison. A nice walk from Wrigley Field and pretty much in the heart of Boystown, the gayest part of Chicago. I didn't find that out right away, not until shortly after I moved in when the Gay Pride Parade was going on and I couldn't find parking after a trip to Targhay. I spent hours driving looking for a spot, then ended up begging a parking lot attendant in a Lake Shore Drive high rise to let me park there,swearing I wasn't "one of those". (Technically, at the time I wasn't aware, so I can safely say that I answered honestly. Lol!)

My apartment looked like a former hotel room converted to an apartment. The kitchen appliances were the super small, almost like Little Tykes kitchen toys. The kitchen lineoleum was a square and a half wide, by maybe 5 feet long. That was it. That was my kitchen. I had to get a cart table with flip down leaves that I put in my living room for use as my kitchen table/countertop because there was no countertop. When I bought that cart/table it was assemble yourself, so I bought my first power tools. I shopped Goodwill in Milwaukee and found a really cool 50's style sofa. We moved all the stuff in my car and in my Dad's El Camino. No moving van for me! The biggest perk of this apartment was the tons of closet space. One living room wall and one bedroom wall were all bi-fold closet doors.

Thanksgiving with that kitchen was interesting. I bought the smallest turkey I could find and it didn't fit in the oven and I had to cut it in 1/2 by the breastbone and cook only a half at a time.

I used to walk to the bar on the weekend (ok, sometimes during the week too). I think it was Joe's on Broadway. A little hole in the wall past Diversey. My route took me past The Closet (a gay bar, mostly women) but I only went in once or twice and couldn't get a drink because of the crowd back then. Funny, because when I figured out about myself years later and went there, the place was empty.

I moved to Chicago not having a job, so much of my time was spent job searching. When I wasn't job searching I was exploring or just trying to find something to do to keep me out of my matchbox sized apartment. One day I walked from my apartment all the way to the Sears Tower (It will always be the Sears Tower to me!) Yes! I said walked all the way! I used to walk a lot before my health problems in 2007.

After I got a job at the antique store on Lincoln, I made a few friends with my co-workers. I'd hang out at El Jardin drinking margaritas with one of them. The other friend introduced me to all the various ethnic restaurants of Chicago.

I lived in that apartment for a year. It was small, but it served it's purpose and it was a great first apartment. It also made me a parallel parking professional.

Please post your "First Apartment" post on your blog. Then come back to Lola's Diner and leave the actual post link here. Please grab the html code for If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays! Badge HERE.

Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

IF YOU SEE THAT MckLinky APPEARS TO NOT BE WORKING, PLEASE POST A LINK TO YOUR "FIRST APARTMENT POST" IN THE COMMENTS TO MAKE SURE WE ARE AWARE OF YOUR PARTICIPATION. THANK YOU!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MckLinky IS STRICTLY FOR 'IF I COULD BLOG BACK TIME THURSDAYS' PARTICIPANTS ONLY.
ANY OTHER LINKS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT PREJUDICE!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Entrecard

I keep seeing all these posts about the new Entrecard Credit "scheme" and how Entrecard discontinued Paid Ads. They announced they discontinued ads quite some time ago, yet I had the same Paid Ad on all 3 of my blogs on August 23rd. Here is the screen shot:

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Why You Shouldn't Text And Drive...

Warning: Graphic.


Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Answers to your questions Part 1

Julie @ Julie Chats asks "Do you have a favorite pesto recipe? I bought a ton of basil at the Farmer's Market yesterday & want to make pesto with it."
I haven't made Pesto in ages, but if I were to make it now, I'd go with Mario Batali's recipe:

Mario Batali's Pesto
Courtesy of www.mariobatali.com
Makes 1 Cup

• 3 tablespoons Pine Nuts
• 2 cups fresh Basil Leaves
• 1 clove Garlic, peeled
• Pinch of Salt
• ½ cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Combine the pine nuts, basil, garlic, and salt in a large stone mortar and grind with the pestle until the mixture forms a paste. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, beating all the while with a wooden spoon. Add the Parmigiano 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until the mixture forms a thick paste. The pesto can also be made in a food processor. The pesto can be stored in a jar, topped with a thin layer of extra-virgin olive oil, for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Stephanie B @ Rocket Scientist asks: "What are your thoughts on upcoming legislation regarding national healthcare? I would thinking, considering some of the issues you have to deal with constantly, you might have an opinion." Actually this question has me freaking out. Right now because of all our current drama, I've tried not to pay attention to this, at least since they started having the town hall meetings. This has me very concerned. I know I am not alone in my financial situation and I cannot afford to be made to pay for health insurance at this time. I cannot work due to disability, so this complicates things. I know that President Obama seems very gung ho about this, but I can't help but feeling that this is going to go the same way as it went during President Clinton's administration, a whole lot of talk and nothing happening. Because of the way big insurance lobbies Congress, change is just not going to happen in 4 years. One thing I don't understand at all is why a Single person in the state of Illinois does not qualify for Medicaid. Are Single people just supposed to not have medical problems? I don't get that. Something needs to be done so that Single people aren't crippled financially when they have an unexpected illness and cannot afford insurance.

Stacey @ All Stace, All The Time asks "If a train leaves Chicago at 4:00 doing 45 mph...Just kidding! What do you think is the most effective way to make money with your blog without having it look too overwhelming?" Thank goodness you were kidding! I don't do well with word problems. I wish I knew. I've got my blog all crapped up with ads and I'm not earning squat. It really irritates me. I finally fixed my Google Analytics for the diner this weekend and it says my average bounce rate is 88%. That seems like crap to me, considering my stats on how long people spend on my blog (from StatCounter.Com). Even with Adgitize, I've not made enough for a payout yet. Anyone who is using Adgitize, what do you charge for your ads? Maybe my ads are too cheap?

Margie And Edna @ Margie And Edna's Basement asks: Is there anything you'd like to do that you've never done before? Yes. Take a real vacation. One that lasts at least a week long and takes me to a vacation destination. Hawaii would be cool, but I'm not even picky, I'd go to Disney World and Key West again. Hell! I'd even take my kids! That's how desperate I am for a vacation. Of course I'd love to go to a gay travel destination or go on an R Family Cruise, but we're just trying to keep our heads above water here, so sadly, even thinking of such extravagances is absurd.

Petula @ It's A Woman's World! asks: How did you get so many people to follow your blog? :) It didn't happen overnight. I started blogging October 16, 2008. I started out by putting my blog on as many directories as I could. I don't know if that really helps, I thought that was a good starting point. Blog Catalog is also an excellent place to get started listing your blogs. The other thing that people will mention over and over is Comment Comment Comment. Just like in real estate it's Location Location Location, on blogs it's commenting. I've participated in several of Harriet's monthly comment challenges and I must say, those did draw a lot of people to my blog. Harriet is planning a September Comment Challenge, so be sure to check it out at I Am Harriet.

Check back Friday for more answers to your questions!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Anastasia Update

Anastasia came home today, but of course they kept her waiting nearly all day. A little after 3pm they tell her she is being discharged now. I had to wait until our daughter came home before I could leave, so we couldn't leave until almost 4pm. The hospital kicked her out of her room and made her go wait on a bench by the ER entrance. How nice is that? Why couldn't they have told her ahead of time so that she could arrange her ride? Had I known, I could have picked up our daughter at her school in Naperville and then headed over to the hospital, which is a short distance away. Instead, we had to wait for her bus to drop her off after all the other kids. Grrr.

They gave her prescriptions for anti-nausea medication and an anti-biotic for her UTI. Nothing for the tons of excess water she's retained from the IV fluids. She looks like the freakin' Michelin Man! I dropped her off at home, then I went to Targhay to have them filled. Luckily our favorite pharmacist just came back from maternity leave today. She said that the anti-nausea drug interacted with one of her regular medications. Then I asked her how much the Zofran was that she was getting in the hospital. She looked up the Zofran, it was super expensive, but she said it had the same dangerous drug interactions as the cheaper drug. WTF? So she was on Zofran 4 days last week and 4 days this week and she's been wondering why the muscles in her arms and her jaw hurt. It's a freakin' drug interaction! So our wonderful pharmacist calls the hospital and makes them approve a different anti-nausea drug that we can actually afford and doesn't interact with anything she already takes. Keep your fingers crossed she isn't allergic to this new antibiotic.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Hey! Ask Me A Question...Please?

I've seen other bloggers do posts asking their wonderful, loyal and faithful readers to ask them questions, so why not, let's open up the comments at the diner for questions.

(See how I flattered you so that you'll take the time to ask some questions?)

(Ok, if you're new, you can ask questions too.)

I'm hoping this will be fun. (Oh, come on! It could so be fun!)


Disclaimer:
If there is something that I cannot answer due to:

A. It making me too squeamish.
B. A pending lawsuit.
C. National Security reasons.

I will let you know.

So ask away!

Come on...you know you want to!
I'll be answering your questions tomorrow.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Anastasia Update

Anastasia went back in the hospital on Saturday. They only did blood work and continue to say she has a viral infection in her small bowel and they can't treat it, they say she just has to ride it out. All they can do is treat her symptoms which is constant vomiting and diarrhea, then dehydration.

She had a different ER doc yesterday who said she should have been sent home with a prescription for an anti-nausea medication when she was discharged on Tuesday. That would have been nice for her not to suffer 4 days and have to go back! Bunch of ass hats! We even asked if she should go home with any prescriptions and they said no. She was so dehydrated yesterday it took 4 extremely painful tries for the blood work and IV.

She was supposed to get out today, but now she has a UTI for which they are giving her antibiotics (hopefully not yet another one she is allergic too. She has had 2 medications since this whole problem started that caused allergic reactions.) Now we're not sure when she is coming home. Poor thing. Before I took her back to the hospital yesterday she was vomiting shortly after she ate anything, no matter what it was. She said her throat was on fire from all the stomach acid coming up and it still feels like she has a golf ball in her throat. She also had constant diarrhea. She's been just miserable and cranky as hell. To say that you just have to ride something this bad out is just horrible. Even when she was just having ice chips, she still was throwing up stomach acid.

You can be sure though that we are not leaving the hospital without prescriptions for the nausea. It is just absurd to make someone suffer like this when there is no reason she should have to. When she had the anti-nausea medicine in the hospital the first time she was actually able to eat hospital food and not throw up. (Yes! Hospital food! And we know that's the worst and she still was able to keep it down because of the anti-nausea medicine.)

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009