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Database maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

I can't think of an appropriate bandom lyric for a title

Yesterday was Miss Erzabet No Biting's first vet appointment since right before we moved. Not only was it time, but we were hoping for information or answers about her inappropriate voiding (how the vet referred to her peeing and pooping anywhere she felt like), and (what worried me most) the very slight intermittent tremor of her head that has developed.

The vet's diagnosis, now confirmed by the blood tests: she has developed hyperthyroidism. I'm waiting on the call from the vet where he'll give me more information. I did some quick research and it looks like the two main treatments are either daily meds or having radioactive iodine injected into the thyroid, which involves a multi-day stay at the vet. I still kinda-sorta prefer that option to meds, because she isn't easy to pill. But then again, how will she react to being somewhere strange and away from me? The last time we did that (when she was at a kitty emergency place because of difficulty breathing) she refused to eat or drink, and spent two days hidden under the blanket in the cage.

Shockingly, she was such a good girl about going to the vet! Previous trips involved her fighting being put in the carrier, peeing herself, and being completely silent and hyperventilating. There was none of that this trip! She was very vocal, but didn't sound distressed, thank goodness. It took her about three minutes of being home before she forgave me and was trying to herd me to the couch for cuddles.

The witchcraft, the medicine, the spells, and the injections

Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to the new Florence + the Machine album? SO MUCH I NEED IT NOW NOW NOW okay fine I'll wait for Halloween.

This weekend I did a bit of spellwork that I learned about online: wring writing. You think of a phrase that sums up something that's been troubling you or something that you want to let go, then write it over and over on a piece of paper until the paper is completely blocked out. Write the phrase on top of the phrase until individual words can't be seen. Then burn the paper, take the ashes, and put them in a jar with whatever things say "protection" to you. I used salt, cinnamon, and roses.

Let me tell you, this spell takes ENERGY. I haven't been that wiped out from a magical working in a very long time; once I was done with everything, I was hit with the shakes and had to flop for a bit. BUT, I certainly felt lighter after it. I'm going to do this with the particular phrase I settled on ("I can't ask for help") for the next few weekends.

When I told my therapist about this bit of spellwork, she was fascinated. She said she was probably going to adopt it herself, and also told me that doing it was my "therapy homework" for the week. More proof my therapist is the correct one for me.

AWS outage

DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.

(no subject)

So many random things happening. Don't expect this to be linear.

- The teaser trailer for season three of Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat has arrived! I am in a state of giddy fangirl screaming and I want the season RIGHT NOW, DAMMIT. I also want a CD and tour shirt. Anyway, remember how when the casting for the show was announced that I was super-skeptical of Sam Reid, and then I watched episode 1 and said "Yep, that's Lestat"? My god, the man has obviously been possessed by the spirit of my egotistical rock star vampire boyfriend, yesssssssss.

- I'm trying to decide if I want to watch The Talamasca, which is based on Anne Rice's books. On the one hand, I've always been interested? Charmed? Something? by the idea of a supernatural observer group and have always wanted more details. On the other hand, I'm concerned that the show will be more like The Mayfair Witches than Interview with the Vampire, and I'm not up for hate-watching another show.

- I bought another Beetlejuce corset-back blazer from La Femme en Noir, with the intent of dying it pink. I'm not worried about how the fabric will take the color, I'm just not sure how to dye it. There's no way it'll fit in my dye pot, which means I either need to get a Rubbermaid tub and fill it with near-boiling water and dye, or bribe a friend with a top loading washing machine.

- Not only am I going to see MCR in L.A. next year, but I'm now going to a Ghost concert in Seattle in Feb. I don't listen to them a lot, but I think they're entertaining and put on a wonderfully theatrical and over-the-top show.

- The Powers That Be are having fun dropping anvils on me via cartomancy: every card for the past few weeks has been about focusing on my magical practices and putting energy into what makes me happy and grounded, because, as the 10 of Wands hit me with yesterday, OH HEY I'M OVER-EXTENDED AND COURTING BURNOUT. (Thank god I'm not using one of the bitchier decks right now.)

- Bloodmilk Jewels has released limited edition pendants of comedy and tragedy jack o' lanterns. Peev got me the comedy one, with the caveat that it'll be my Christmas present. I'm dithering on if I want to buy the tragedy one so I have the set to wear as part of my 24/7 neck mess. I think I do, because I need to be better at acknowledging difficult and upsetting things/emotions/situations happen but I don't need to keep my brain in them. But still, $260. Ooof.