Friday, October 19

Dairy farming; every day is a new adventure. Though sometimes a tragic one.  One old cow was due to have a calf on October 25th.  I commented on Wednesday night that I didn't think she'd make it 'til then.  But neither of us could have possibly guessed that she'd give birth the very next day.  Yesterday I had to go out in the evening, on the coldest day of the week, in the drizzling October rain to fetch her out of the bottom pasture.  It was not one calf, but twins, the heifer tiny and the bull bigger but not by much. Sadly, they were both stillborn, one down in the pasture grass and the other in the barn later that night.  Such situations cannot be predicted or prevented, and life trudges on. 

In the same vein of inexplicable frustrations, this new life of medications and medical supplies and insurance can be a royal pain.  Yesterday I re-ordered two prescriptions and a 100 count box of testing strips. Apparently, I cannot reorder strips until October 25th.  Even if I test the most sparingly, I won't have enough until then. Which means I need to shell out the cash for a 50 count box. And they are not cheap. Apparently, an inquiry to my insurance company is in order. /sigh/ 

Update: Apparently I just need a new prescription from my NP to indicate I test more often, which would allow me to get 150 per refill rather than 100. An inconvenience to make the several phone calls, but by early next week, all should be fixed. I still might buy the extra 50 today, just to make sure I have enough for the weekend. I don't want to spend the weekend eating out and guesstimating insulin dosages and then not test my BG as often as I'd like because I'm low on test strips. This is one instance where frugality is not the most important consideration.

Also, finding the correct fast-acting insulin dose is still not an exact science.  In the past few days it seems that if I calculate what I think I need, I should then add one more unit and that gets me where I need to be. At least yesterday when I got down around 100, I didn't get the weird shaky and weak feeling. So "normal" is starting to feel normal, finally.  I just hope that my too low jittery feeling is still effective for when I actually am.
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In more random news, I began watching episodes of the new TMNT from Nickelodeon. Having seen updates and reviews via facebook, I was not excited about the changes, to the point where I did not even want to see it. But... curiosity got the best of me when I found the first couple episodes for free online. The animation, though not a great style, grows on you.  The turtles do look a bit more "realistic," in some sense, than the 2003 series, which is still my favorite incarnation of the fab four.  The anime expressions and added symbols they use from time to time are annoying, distracting, and break the vibe of the show. Visually, this might be the best Splinter to date.  What I cannot get used to, or like, is that they made Donny taller and lankier than his brothers, plus gave him a strange gap-tooth. Come again? Coupled with the voice (see next paragraph), take Donny from my second-favorite turtle to my least favorite. And that's saying something, because Mikey always annoyed me somehow.


The voice acting selections feel wrong.  Leo sounds more like Donny. Donny is voiced by the same actor who did Raphael in the 80s series, which is just weird. And correspondingly, they seem to have ramped up his goofy sarcasm a bit, like the 80s Raph. He's got less of that "Aww shucks" dorkiness going on. I guess they made up for it by making him visually awkward?  Mikey is a bit too much of a parody of himself; a little too stupid and a little too high-pitched.  Sean Astin is the voice of Raphael (I know, right?). But surprisingly enough, he does an adequate job, particularly in the sense that you forget it's Sean Astin. It doesn't sound like the expected Sean Astin voice except every now and again at the end of a phrase. This is incredibly important, because Raphael is far and away my favorite character and if they ruin him for me, the series is anathema. :-P  

The writing is a bit predictable (well, duh). But the show is witty, and I found myself unexpectedly grinning and laughing several times.  And some reviewers are right; they did make the turtles seem more like actual teenagers. Though, I think I prefer them seeming more "adult" than teen. I know, I know, throws off the acronym and the storyline. Details. :-P But they change the storyline themselves! The melding of the Utrom/Krang/Foot soldier memes is also awkward. The Krang-speak is amusing/interesting... the first couple of times. Then the strange syntax is just boring, and makes you wonder why an advanced alien race cannot pick up basic grammar.  Splinter was once human, which is "huh?" but I suppose makes his mastery of ninjitsu more plausible. But hey, we're talking about mutated turtles and alien robots. A rat learning ninjitsu skills isn't exactly a stretch.  They also give Donny a hardcore, instantaneous crush on April, again deteriorating his character for me.

Long story even longer, the experience got me jonesing for more turtles. So I busted out the 2003 series. Yes, I own it. Shut up! And each episode makes me remember why I loved it so much in the first place. Apparently, however, from when I started watching the series in 2008 until now, I missed the brief window of opportunity to purchase the lost Season 5 Ninja Tribunal on DVD. I might still have the bit torrent episodes saved on my mom's old computer from after my motherboard crapped out on my prior laptop. ...hmmm...