Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Just a few bad apples.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Reality always wins in the end.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

This really is a full service blog.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I can’t take this shit today. I just can’t.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Four legs? good! two legs? we’re not so sure…

Let there be snark.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Good luck with your asparagus.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

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Bleg

Claire update

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Good morning —

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.  We drove up to New Jersey to visit my sister-in-law and her family.  We went to the lake, the kids paddle boarded and I took the youngest two out kayaking for a couple of hours on Sunday and then we watched fireworks.

The conclave of cousins was held in the cardboard box fort which has been the host of all prior conclaves.  The final statement from the conclave of cousins was that ice cream was urgently needed.  We complied.

 

Claire update

The big news was that there was no big news. Claire is doing well. She is getting a monthly blood test. So far, it is detecting nothing. Her cancer is currently in remission and although it has a fairly high relapse rate, each month with a negative test increases the probability that she’ll not relapse. Her family is doing well enough. You Jackals, along with others, helped make sure that they did not experience the financial toxicity that is associated with cancer treatment. Y’all gave them the ability to be with their daughter without worrying about money (too much at least) and for that, I am forever grateful.

Claire still needs to figure out what she wants her next hair style to be, and then she is worried about going back to fifth grade after not seeing her classmates for a year and a half, but those are mostly normal worries of a soon to be fifth grader.

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New Orleans Based Readers & Commenters: BOLO Regarding a Missing Autistic Man In New Orleans!!!!!!

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I was killing time and reading Norm Ornstein’s twitter feed when I came across this tweet he’d retweeted:

New Orleans Based Readers & Commenters: BOLO!!!!!! 1

New Orleans Based Readers & Commenters: BOLO!!!!!!

Reporting from WDSU in New Orleans:

NEW ORLEANS —

The New Orleans Police Department needs the public’s help in locating a man reported missing from the French Quarter.

The report says 34-year-old Jessie Lewis was last seen around noon Friday in the 1000 block of Decatur Street.

He was last seen wearing the pictured clothing.

Anyone with information on Lewis’ whereabouts can contact the NOPD at 504-658-6080.

Any of you who live in New Orleans, who have friends and/or family in New Orleans, please amplify this on your social media feeds if you can!

Thanks!

Open thread!

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Claire is home

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My niece Claire was released from the hospital for the last time for this round of treatment earlier this week. She is at home.  She is with her parents and her little sister and her grandma in a house that is mostly snowed in and overloaded with toys and books and presents.  She is doing pretty well right now considering that she just finished up her 5th round of chemo.  Her numbers are good to very good.

Her parents finished cleaning out the apartment on Wednesday and handed back the keys to the landlord a day early.  They no longer have a place in Philly.

The Balloon-Juice Jackal Crash Pad was heavily used and greatly appreciated.  It was a spot where Megan and Travis could sleep without listening to beeps.  It was a spot where they could breathe.  It was a spot where Megan and Travis could have their younger daughter come down and visit to see mom and her big sister.  It was a refuge.  Thank you!

Right now, the plan is fairly straightforward.  Claire resumes normal on-line learning on Monday. She can probably win the first argument on where the family should order take-out once her appetite fully comes back and her stomach settles.  She can play in the snow/ice/sleet that is supposed to be hitting her house today.

She will have monthly lab work.  If the results are not scary, that is all she needs for several months and then she’ll get a check-in with her oncology team. If the results are scary, something happens and we don’t know what that is.

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Claire update

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Good afternoon — I took today off as I have some PTO that expires/disappears soon if I did not use it.  My morning involved testing out a new to me biscuit and breakfast place and then donating platelets.  I’ve been giving platelets a couple of times per month since the summer as pediatric cancer patients like Claire need them.  The Red Cross e-mails me every time they ship my platelets and I think that I’m part of a small group that are sending platelets to a particular patient as five of my last six donations have gone to the same, small hospital in the middle of nowhere.

Claire is doing well all things considered.  She is in her fifth round of chemo and treatment at the moment.  She is getting blood products a couple of times a week which has helped her tolerate the treatment.  As far as I understand, her numbers range from being good to really good.  This and the prior two rounds of treatment have been designed to blast out the unobserved and unobservable cancerous cells.  Assuming the next few weeks go as anticipated, she should be released from the hospital in the middle of February.

And after that, she is in the watch, wait and closely monitor stage of her treatment.  It will have been a very long and tough nine months for Claire and her family.

Right now, what Claire and plenty of kids like her need are blood donors.  If you are capable of donating blood, please do so.  You get to help Claire or someone like her out while also getting cookies.  That is a good trade in my book.

 

 

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‘ghost cat’ and Her Kitties Could Use Our Help

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ghost cat wrote to us with a problem, hoping we could offer advice on how to re-home her 4 bonded cats that she desperately does not want to give up.  With your help, we hope to be able to do one better than that, because rehoming the cats would solve one problem but would most likely create another emergency, which you will understand if you continue reading.

ghost cat did not write asking for money, but if we can come up with $2,500 together, that will get ghost cat on her feet and allow her to keep her family together.

If you want to help, you can use any of the site donation options – look for the *red balloon in the sidebar – and john will send ghost cat a cashiers check.

'ghost cat' and Her Kitties Could Use Our Help 5  'ghost cat' and Her Kitties Could Use Our Help 3
PHOTOS OF LYRA AND PAN

From ghost cat:

I’m in a very difficult position in my life at the moment and need advice about possibly rehoming my four cats. They are my prescribed emotional support animals, and they also play a major role in my therapy for major depressive disorder and complex PTSD from long-term child abuse.

I need to find a new place to live for the reasons listed below, and my current financial situation is very poor, and I’m worried that I can’t give my cats the care they need. As much as I don’t want to, I may need to give up my cats.

I’m asking for advice because it’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to find a new home locally that would take my whole family of four bonded cats.

After not being able to pay my rent in full for a few months, I got a notice to vacate my apartment, effective November 30, and then I got a summons to a trial. (The eviction moratoriums don’t protect people who have a month-to-month lease.) This was a huge blow at one of the worst possible times.

Fortunately I was able to get an attorney from NM Legal Aid for the trial, and the case was dismissed.

I still need to move, but I do not owe back rent. I’m facing the usual costs of moving—two month’s rent, damage deposit, transfer of utilities and Internet, etc.—and of course, in the category of when it rains it pours, I also need to replace my laptop, which has a bulging battery that has cracked my trackpad.

One property management company has accepted my application, and they’re OK with the cats (with increased rent and damage deposit).

I’m beyond stressed about finances. Regardless of how much I depend on my cats for my emotional well-being, I can’t see when that will improve. Right now, if one of them needed veterinary care beyond required vaccinations, I couldn’t afford it.

Thank you for any advice you guys could give me at this time.


PHOTOS OF OLIVER

'ghost cat' and Her Kitties Could Use Our Help 2 'ghost cat' and Her Kitties Could Use Our Help 6
PHOTOS OF NOZOMI

More about ghost cat and the kitties:

I adopted two cats, Oliver and Nozomi, each around 9 months to a year old, from our municipal shelter in September 2019. A few months later I started fostering two 8-week-old bonded kittens who needed some help with human socialization, also part of my therapy.

In New Mexico, community spread of COVID was confirmed and the animal shelters shut down around the time I needed to decide whether to formally adopt these kittens. I work from home as a freelance medical editor and copy editor and was doing OK financially.

By that time, all four cats were fully bonded and acting like true siblings, so I adopted the two kittens. They are Lyra and Pantalaimon. My experiment in building a harmonious cat family succeeded beyond my expectations.

All four usually sleep together in a cuddle puddle on the bed or next to me on the sofa loveseat where I usually sit to work. They all groom each other, and they groom me, which I find quite flattering. I love them all and will have a very difficult time coping if I have to give them up, but I feel obligated to put their needs ahead of mine at the moment.

I never imagined the pandemic was going to be this awful and drag on for so long, and I really underestimated how much it would affect my mental health, which has fallen off a cliff, along with my ability to make a living.

Thankfully, freelance work is picking back up, and ghost cat will be able to afford rent and care for the kitties, if she can just get over this bump in the road.

If you want to help, you can use any of the site donation options – look for the red balloon in the sidebar.   john will send ghost cat a cashiers check.

*I see a red balloon, but Gin & Tonic sees a black balloon.  Gotta love a million device/browser combinations.

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Claire update for the holidays

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Good morning —

Just a bit of good news. Claire got discharged from the hospital late on Monday night after her 4th round of chemo and treatment.  As of last night, her appetite and energy is pretty good.  She’ll get to spend, assuming no setbacks, at least through New Years at her house with her family.  Santa will know where to find her.

From what I’ve been told 4th hand, Claire’s numbers are “good” and stable.  I’m not sure what that means except it is far better than “bad” and “declining” or “not improving”.  After the New Years’ she is due back to Philadelphia for her 5th round of first line treatment.  I think the goal of the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds of the first line treatment for her type of cancer is to find the hold-outs and 1 in a million cells that are still cancerous and kill them.

One of the things that has made her ability to tolerate these treatment rounds plausible has been blood transfusions.  She has been getting blood products several times each cycle.  A transfusion usually produces significant pain and symptom relief.  Right now, blood is in short supply.  Many centers that typically want to have a three to five day supply on hand are now operating with a twenty four to thirty six hour cushion.  If you want to help Claire and plenty of other kids with cancer, see if you can give blood or platelets over the winter break.  I’m signed up for another platelet session on January 3rd where I can watch a movie and make sure that someone else’s pain is alleviated.

Finally, I am still just blown away by all of your generosity.  The apartment in Philly has been a godsend for Claire’s parents.  My sister-in-law has a respite from the hospital to clear her head, get a good night’s sleep and decompress.  That has been an incredible relief for her especially as they have not had to worry about the immediate financial toxicity of a cancer diagnosis that so many families need to face at the same time.  Whenever I think about this, I tear up.  So again, thank you.

 

 

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Bone Marrow registration

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For many pediatric cancer patients like Claire who have leukemia or other blood diseases, a bone marrow transplant becomes a critical part of their treatment.  While Claire’s doctors hope to continue to rely only on chemotherapy for Claire’s treatments, changes in her condition and the threat of relapse in the months and years to come mean that needing a marrow transplant could become a reality.  We do know that she does not have a matching family donor.  So should she require a transplant she will have to rely on an unrelated donor and hope that one is available that matches her genetic makeup.  In researching her condition and treatment, Megan and Travis learned a lot about the marrow registry and matching process and just how hard it is to find a genetic match.  It’s a scary thought for them and it also made them think of all the families currently waiting to find a match.

With this incredible community rallying around Claire, we saw an opportunity to not only potentially help Claire but to help other patients in need, by hosting a virtual registry drive.  Patients that do not have a matched family donor turn to Be The Match, also known as the National Bone Marrow Registry, to find a compatible donor.

One thing we were surprised to learn, and suspect many others don’t know, is that no one is tested to find out if they are a match to a specific patient. Anyone who submits their DNA is entered into the registry as a potential donor to anyone in need. The more people who join the registry, the greater the chance of finding a match for a patient.

Join the registry

Visit http://Join.BeTheMatch.org/ClaireStrong to learn more and join the registry. There are a few criteria to join the registry:

  1. Be between the ages of 18 and 44 (once entered, individuals will stay on the registry until age 61)
  2. Be willing to donate to anyone in need
  3. Be in general good health

Less than 1% of people who join the registry will end up donating. The donation process is not painful and you could SAVE A LIFE.

My wife and I have gone through the registration process myself and it could not have been easier. You fill out a few questions online; receive a kit in the mail; rub a couple of swabs on the inside of your cheek and mail them back. That’s it! The first step is visiting http://Join.BeTheMatch.org/ClaireStrong

Spread the word!

Whether or not you are able to register you can still help out by sharing this campaign online encouraging others to register and share. There is a particular need for registry members of diverse backgrounds so the broader the outreach the better. Just share the link http://Join.BeTheMatch.org/ClaireStrong

Thank you for reading this long post and for your continued kindness to Claire and family. We would love to share a little of this energy with other families in similar situations. By using our unique Be The Match link, I’ll be able to update everyone on our campaign success. Thank you.

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