Solving Problems

1. Why we still have no internet access at home? Tim confirmed that the new router/modem we bought is not supported by our DSL provider. It seems I remember there was a reason we had to buy a 2-Wire when we set this up. We've got one being overnighted to us, and hopefully we can be up and running again. And we can return this other modem to the store.

2. I took a round-about path to get there, but I managed to reach someone at Beckman-Coulter (the company that sponsored my little mandatory California trip in May) today. Why did I need to call someone at the training facility? Because the bill for my 10-day stay at the Anaheim Crowne Plaza showed up on our credit card bill. Ouch. Luckily a few phone calls seem to have taken care of that, and we'll check the balance on the card in a few days.

3. We got to find out what a diabetic episode looks like in a cat this morning. Mocha Java started squalling loudly and and acting like a stumbling drunk at about 6am. Suspecting a low blood sugar, I smeared some corn syrup on his lips and we got him to eat a little bit of food. Then we took him to the vet, where they got a reading of 21. Far too dangerously low to send him home again, so they kept him there all day until he was stable. Why he suddenly crashed, we're not sure. But it's the same in people: they'll get a little sick, or have a weird day, and they'll crash too. Needless to say, he's off the insulin for a few days, and we're trying new feeding instructions and yet another dosing schedule. We've been totally focused on getting the high sugar down, but I somehow must have filed away in my brain that we need to watch out for the opposite problem with a diabetic, too. A high blood sugar will kill in months. A low one...that's an emergency that can kill in minutes.

It was a few hours later that it occurred to me that had this happened on any other day of the week, when I don't get home until 7am at the earliest, he may not have made it.