Sundry

1. Yes, I know my images are broken. My oh-so-helpful hosts over at ipowerweb claim that somehow all my image files, no matter where I got them from and when or how I uploaded them to their server, were somehow corrupted at once, through no fault of theirs. Allegedly, they were going to do a restore and fix this within the hour of my call yesterday (after being on hold for 25 minutes, on the phone with them for 20 and agreeing to pay $50). This has not been done. Not the first time they've screwed up, either. I've thought about moving somewhere else before, but they're cheap and I didn't have the energy. Any suggestions for other hosts?

2. In the worse-news category, my mom just had a bad incident during a heart stress test. My mother, who has been a health nut since before I was born and tried to raise me on wheat germ, home-made yogurt and yoga, has always been in enviable shape and youthful for her years. However, over the past year or so, at 65-66, she has started having more aches, pains and illnesses. It's frustrating for her, since she hates going to the doctor and tries to take good care of herself, and she's used to going years with nary a cold. I have a feeling that her major job stress of the last couple years has been an ingredient in this decline, but who knows?

Well, it turns out a week or two ago she started having a sensation of pressure in her chest, along with gas. It came and went and didn't seem to occur during particular exertion, but it bothered her enough that my mother, the doctor-phobe, went and got a stress test. During which her blood pressure suddenly spiked to a level that everyone in the room started looking around for the nitroglycerin. Yeah, not good.

They told her afterwards that a lot of things can cause such a spike (I'm sure even being there, not to mention getting shot up twice with radioactive solution, was enough to stress her the fuck out). She says she feels okay and is not too worried, but she also feels scared that she is being betrayed by her body, a feeling I know all too well. So, now we're all worried, and won't find out the test results until sometime this coming week.

I know life isn't fair, but it will be just mindboggling if my active, vibrant mother has some kind of heart condition. Being a real mama's girl, I just can't stand the thought at all. And then there's the selfish part of me, that thinks "oh, shit - if she's having problems, what's going on inside of me, the fat, ex-smoker who already knows she's got genetically-ordained degenerative discs?" Okay, I'm maybe a little bit less worried about that (and, by proxy, how Mrs. Nator will put me on an all-kale diet/all-day exercise regimen if she gets wind that my family might be carrying high blood pressure genes) than I am at the thought of my beloved mother's life being in danger, but it does give one pause.

I don't like it. Make it stop.

3. Work is fucking crazy right now. Seriously, if I get through the relaunch of the website and the launch of the plasma screen program? I may just ask for a raise.

4. And finally, some good news: at Zoo Atlanta, Lun Lun the panda had a baby this past week! Having an inside contact at the zoo, I know they've been frustrated by her not getting pregnant for several years now, both because pandas are so endangered and because they've been having financial problems that a baby panda could help alleviate by boosting visitor numbers. Most of all, however, baby pandas are super cute (especially when their hair comes in)!

Take a look-see on the Panda Cam, and keep pulling for the little one, who will not be out of danger, health-wise, for some time. Good going, Lun Lun, and all the Zoo staff!