5 days to Berlin, World Cup

[feuervogel]

It's the first day of the World Cup, and I am perpetually without cable. Most of the matches will be on ESPN or ESPN2 (cable), but some will be on ABC. I guess I'll be befriending the folks at Italian Pizzeria III (super sketchy storefront, decent NY-style pizza) and/or Fitzgerald's (Irish pub) when I get back from Germany. Or doing what I usually do for the Bundesliga.

I leave for Berlin in 5 days. I have a packing list, and I'm working on a shopping list. I have most everything I need, but I'm almost out of protein bars (excellent airplane/travel snacks/emergency food), and my bathing suit doesn't fit anymore. (It never quite fit, but it was good enough. Not so much anymore.) But I hate buying bathing suits (because ones that fit my top are $75 wtf), and I'm not entirely sure I'd use it (while there are swimming areas in Berlin, I don't know if we'd have time to go to them, though our hotel has a sauna).

I'm worried that Luna will get sick while we're gone. The last 2 times we've been away, she's gotten stress-sick. So we started her on Prozac (which won't have built up enough to be effective before we leave), got a new Feliway plug-in, and have some xanax for her. We also have anti-nausea medication and antibiotics which theoretically will prevent diarrhea.

I really don't want to get a phone call from the cat sitter 3 days into an 11-day trip telling me the cat is sick as hell, you know? Argh. So we're doping her to the gills and hoping.

Comments

[kriski]

so, what did you do today? oh, you know, dosed my cat with prozac, as you do.

somehow that makes me giggle. probably because i used to be on that until february or so. until we swapped it for nortriptyline because that gives me a gentle kick in the butt i seem to need every morning.

[feuervogel]

Another cat is on clomipramine. She'd been on prozac, but it dropped her white blood cell count, so we had to switch. She doesn't hide from everything anymore, which is a great improvement. She used to hide under the bed when people come over; now she goes under the couch and comes out for food. CATS.

I was on Lexapro for about 6 months a while back for situational depression (shitty job, shitty climate, no support network...) Good stuff, that. (I'm just glad the first thing we tried worked!)

[kriski]

i wasn't aware pets get treated for anxiety. i never thought about it. but it does make sense. so, does the vet prescribe the medication or do you just go to your pharmacy and buy the for your pets? i wonder how that works in germany. again, i never thought about it, not having any pets...

good thing you got lucky on the first try with anti-depressants. it can be SUCH a grueling trial and error process. it's a constant topic in my self-help-group how "these shitty meds don't work anyway" vs "keep trying, it sometimes takes a couple of meds before you find the one most effective for you".

[feuervogel]

It's prescribed by our vet. Because clomipramine isn't available in 5 mg tablets for humans, we get it made by a pharmacy in Texas and shipped to us. At much higher expense, yaaaaaay. But hey, she's much happier on medication, so it's worth it.

I was in such a horrible situation, and I'm glad the first thing we tried worked. Though since I worked in a hospital pharmacy and there was a clinic in the same building as my office, getting changed would have been easy.

PS: I bought tickets for the David Bowie exhibit on June 26, which makes Thursday entirely free. And lian can't come because she has to meet with a professor, so Wednesday is also all free now.

OMG I LEAVE IN <24 HOURS

[kriski]

for thursday we definitely should do the street food thing for dinner. svenja's all for it as well.

i thought about seeing the bowie exhibition as well, but it seems so crowded ALL THE FUCKING TIME. i'm not good with crowds right now.

wasn't there a football thing you wanted to do on thursday? svenja and i were doing a papercraft project for her work when germany played today. we could tell it went well for them by the fireworks going off several times ;-)

for wednesday i'm sure we'll find something to do. i am free all day, YOU are my wednesday appointment ;-) in contrast to thursday and friday when i'll be all stressed out over the welfare appointments. would you like a semi-spontaneous picnic at the volkspark rehberge with turkish treats? we can walk there, it's about 15 min to walk there. i'm oretty sure you'll want to take a shower when you get here, maybe have breakfast first, maybe a nap against the jetlag? we'll figure something out.

[feuervogel]

Excellent. I love food. I love Turkish food, too, so the picnic idea sounds great.

Thursday I wanted to hit up the Hertha fan shop (probably the one at Hbf unless I feel like going out to the Oly, where I've never been) and maybe do some DFB-Team shopping. That's probably the Adidas store either by KaDeWe or Alex. Boring stuff for non-fans. And I want to see what's around the hotel in the way of cafes, and go to Anhalter Bhf. (I could happily spend a day or three going to train stations. I'm kind of a dork like that.)

When we get in, I definitely want to shower. I probably won't take a nap (except possibly spontaneously falling asleep mid-afternoon) but try to get to bed at a reasonable or slightly early hour (9ish?) then get up at a normal time Thursday.

Whee! If shenanigans with flights occur, I'll let you know. My carrier says I can send international SMS free (from within the US), so I can try that.

[beth_leonard]

I hope your kitty stays well for the trip. Have a great time!
--Beth

[a-nightengale.livejournal.com]

Thinking positive thoughts that all goes well on the home front and that you have a fun trip.