NEW VOTING INCENTIVE!!! WINTER SKETCHES!!!
January will be devoted to some winter activity sketches to get us in the seasonal mood! Vote to see this week's offering! (And remember: fans who donate $5 or more a month get a say in what voting incentives run! If you want to join their controlling ranks, HEAD ON OVER TO PATREON and join the select club!)
VOTE FOR PUCK BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO!!!
As for this comic…
After I had this surgery, I reported that I was in a lot of pain. They asked me to quantify the level of pain, and I shouted, "A LOT! OF PAIN!" So they gave me, like, a whole bunch of Percocet and sent me home. Though to be honest, my reaction to the stuff was not at all like Colin's. I found they kind of did nothing. They didn't really help much with the pain beyond what Tylenol could do, and I didn't really experience any, um... other effects. So I stopped taking them. The end.
The real story was boring so I fabricated a funnier one.
For the record, I had NO idea what Colin would say in panel three until I sat down to type in the text for the speech bubble. I decided to just write down a stream-of-consciousness flow, putting down whatever stupid idea first popped into my mind. This is what we got. I have no explanation.
Puck 424
NEW VOTING INCENTIVE!!! WINTER SKETCHES!!!
January will be devoted to some winter activity sketches to get us in the seasonal mood! Vote to see this week's offering! (And remember: fans who donate $5 or more a month get a say in what voting incentives run! If you want to join their controlling ranks, HEAD ON OVER TO PATREON and join the select club!)
VOTE FOR PUCK BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO!!!
As for this comic…
After I had this surgery, I reported that I was in a lot of pain. They asked me to quantify the level of pain, and I shouted, "A LOT! OF PAIN!" So they gave me, like, a whole bunch of Percocet and sent me home. Though to be honest, my reaction to the stuff was not at all like Colin's. I found they kind of did nothing. They didn't really help much with the pain beyond what Tylenol could do, and I didn't really experience any, um... other effects. So I stopped taking them. The end.
The real story was boring so I fabricated a funnier one.
For the record, I had NO idea what Colin would say in panel three until I sat down to type in the text for the speech bubble. I decided to just write down a stream-of-consciousness flow, putting down whatever stupid idea first popped into my mind. This is what we got. I have no explanation.
Didn’t realize it was outpatient surgery. Should’ve.
Practically every surgery up here that isn’t open heart surgery is outpatient surgery. I could barely move and some nurse comes up and says, “Okay, get up. We need the bed.” The sympathetic and gentle care part really wasn’t there. But whatever.
Well damn. That explains why Henry Green got out of the bed so fast.
Relatives of mine each had gall bladder surgery about twenty-five years apart…it went from several days in the hospital to pulling it out through the belly button. So I should’a thought it.
Yeah, in Canada the ‘publicly funded’ element of healthcare means that if expensive things like hospital stays can be avoided, they WILL be avoided. That said, I just think the medical community in general is moving more toward day surgery. The old ‘stay in a bed and let us monitor you’ concept’s gone out the window, unless (like with open heart surgery), they really do need to keep you in a bed and monitor you.
I love Canada sometimes, lol.
I’ve been in for heart cathiterization several times. I spent 2 nights once, and the rest, one night. It was a nice hospital, but I still was glad to leave.
No one loves staying in a hospital, so I guess it’s a good thing they’ve moved away from that?
The U.S. isn’t much better. Insurance companies really hate to pay for long hospital stays. Plus every day you stay in a hospital increases your chance of contracting a deadly infection, or so I’ve been told.
My father-in-law was once given this piece of advice from a doctor friend: if you want to stay healthy, stay far away from hospitals. Easier said than done, of course, but I understand.
Google “Nosocomial infection” and “iatrogenic”. That’s one reason (there are others) we send our patients home PDQ. Susie’s hint of the day: Wash your hands frequently. If the get chapped, buy hand lotion. Better than getting “the flu”
O M G
Colin is missing a NUT, and is convinced that a SQUIRREL stole it.
Thematically appropriate, no?
Oddly enough Salem, your link is the original name of the band “Finger Eleven”.
@Aaron
Who knew ? Not me.
This is why PUCK is the #1 informative Web Comic !
😛
Say what? Finger Eleven and the Squirrel Nut Zippers are two entirely different bands. (I didn’t know about the candy before, though.)
I thought the first name of ‘Finger Eleven’ was Rainbow Butt Monkeys! That was the best name. ‘Finger Eleven’ is the worst name.
Wyvern and EG are correct. I blame this error on my migraine and Dilaudid…
That said, Squirrel Nut Zippers would make a great band name.
I tried to reply to Electric Gecko but it wouldn’t let me Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band they play swing music
I totally see why Squirrel Nut Zippers and Rainbow Butt Monkeys got confused, though.
Heh, I wouldn’t think that Canadian Docs would give out Perk or an outpatient orchiectomy. My boss hasn’t given out anything stronger than Darvocet for five years for outpatient surgeriees, even for vag hysts. Demerol is reserved for inpatient stuff, like radical vulvectomy and perinectomy . She doesn’t give out perk or oxycontin, period, even if you are dying.
They might not anymore. They did with me, but it was a while ago.
Susan, they give out Dilaudid up here if you need it. BTW – did I see you comment on :The Island”? If not, you have someone else using your nema… (I’m sigpig)
If you are looking for perk, don’t get operated on by m boss
Well, I know it’s less common now. In fact, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have given me that stuff in today’s climate, what with the ‘crisis’ on our hands. I don’t know. I don’t have a very addictive personality, so my response was like, “People get hooked on this stuff? Really? Why?” That said, I’m glad I stopped taking them when I did.
Grr, I had a great post, but it won’t do. I have no idea why.
I restored it. The pharma terms fired up my anti-spam filter. You have no idea how many spam comments I get trying to sell that stuff.
Thanks. *shakes head* I don’t get those. I get spam from Victoria’s Secret, Macy’s and Saks.
Quite different than in Germany.
After the same operation I was one and a half week in hospital, the other boy was tested as well and the drainage to the empty hole was removed after a week. I was sleeping most of the day after the operation and able to walk slowly on the next day. And that is standard procedure….
Thank God the tumor was benign.
Well, it wasn’t benign but it was contained. More on that in a few weeks.
I thought you were joking about squirrel weddings being a thing.
You were, in fact, not joking about squirrel weddings being a thing.
I am quite disturbed by this information. Hm.
As for the comic, I’ve heard a lot of people claim that they got similar experiences post-surgery but I can’t say I’ve ever actually MET someone who acted like that. I’m starting to think it’s a cartoon only thing, but what do I know?
I think it’s only a cartoon thing. But hey, a trope is a trope. I’m running with it!
Decades ago, my oldest sister came out of some saying that she really wanted her wedding ring to be a green diamond. There really is such a thing (different from emeralds); it’s quite rare and expensive – they’d previously discussed getting one but decided it was too much.
But the drugs suppressed the verbal filters and out it came.
He got her the ring. They are still married happily.
I have a craving now.
So I asked Baldie (my human pet), if he’d head off to the Supermarket to buy me some candy.
He laughed at me !
Then declared that if he ever asked the Young Lady in the Candy Aisle for some SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS, the next time I saw him, he’d be wearing an ANKLE BRACELET !
Those are definitely not available in Canada.
Just as well you all don’t hear what comments I used to get when I worked in a hospital prior to my present job. Now my boss’ patients are all female. Bliss.
Please, regale us.
NG. Gecko doesn’t like to anger the robots.
RE VOTING INCENTIVE
Where’s the REAL TRACEEE !
You’re no fun.
If Tracee wore one of her Spandex Specials, she would be frozen to death…hmm, yeah, go ahead and draw her in one of those.
@Susan
Satan’s evil glow would keep her toasty.
You forget that the ninth circle of Hell is icy cold, if you remember your Dante. That’s where Satan dwells. Mwahaha. Tracee would be a spandex-clad icicle
@Susan
JEEEEEZ ! HARSH !!
What R U – CATholic ?
David Niven tells of acting in a movie set at a ski lodge (it might have been “Casino Royale” but I forget). After a day of shooting at an actual lodge at the top of a mountain, he decided that rather than take the cable car down, he’d just ski down since after all he was in full gear.
Or so he thought.
He hadn’t fully thought through the fact that his pants were not fully insulated because he was working under light. And of course once you start down the slope you can’t go back up. The One Extremity started feeling mighty cold and then numb … all he could do was go into the deepest possible tuck.
When he reached the bottom (he says) he avoided frostbite by gently rewarming Mr. Frozen Log in the strongest alcoholic drink he could find.
How much of this story is true I have no idea, but perhaps it could happen. Especially if alcohol is involved.
Ouch.
Most of Tracy’s species in California and Florida consider “braving the cold to be sexy” as having a bare midriff in their “harsh” winters of 60°F (15.5°C).
A Canadian Winter in Ski country can easily drop to -30°C (or -22°F for southern visitors) with a -40° windchill (°C or °F: the thermometers line up at -40).
We have a term in Canada for Sunny-state bimbos who think they’re going to show off their tanned skin on a Northern ski slope in the middle of OUR winter: “unidentified female body”.
Word, brother.
Hell, I thought that he was going to say, “That’s one hot and sexy corpsecicle.”
Once they swell up, blackish-purple, the adjectives “hot and sexy” really can’t be used anymore. :/
It would be funny if Colin has had a bunch of invisible squirrel friends the whole time and just never bothered to mention them to Puck.
That could potentially be true.
“January 2, 2018, 8:11 pm
Nope. No more fairy creatures. Or any other fantasy elements. This isn’t really a conscious policy, really, but I’m making it a conscious policy right now: NO MORE MAGIC BEINGS OR NON-HUMANS ALLOWED. I just realize that I’ve carefully avoided the introduction of any such beings after the first few comics, and I think it’s for the best. Probably.”
Well, at six days and nineteen hours, your New Years Resolution lasted longer than most.
I wonder if a squirrel wedding is anything like a cat’s birthday.
@Wyvern. Yeah. I won’t be going to either of them 😛
@Susan
Aw G Wiz…
And the Invitations were already mailed.
@Salem. I hoe they don’t expect a present. 😛
@Susan
“HOE” ?
Well, I am hoping TRACEEE will attend.
Ah! Cataria as in “Nepeta Cataria, commonly known as catnip, catswort, or catmint, is a species of the genus Nepeta in the family Lamiaceae.”
Its national anthem is “Purr!” which in English means “Give Me More!”
@Salem. I hope they don’t expect a present. 😛
@Susan
It’s the thought that counts.
My thought is that cats are quadripeds that have nothing to do with my life, sort of like antelope or wolverines.
I am on the same page. I am happy to let them roam free in the jungles of Cataria, far away from me. (That’s where cats are from, right?)
O CAT-TAR-EE-AH !
My home and native land!
True furry love in all thy brood command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
(tears dripping from whiskers)
I thought cats were from Catan. That’s why it’s unsettled.
@rewinn
Nope, pretty sure it’s CAT-TAR-EE-AH
So wait. Puck’s a fairy. Has that particular plot point actually affected anything in the comic so far? At all? Apart from her and her daughter’s ears being kind of pointy, I’d have no idea there was anything weird about her if I started reading from this strip.
Nope. It has never, EVER affected anything in this comic. Ever. Ever.
@gergory
Robin can be preternaturally violent.
She did beat up a WOMAN IN A WHEELCHAIR.
Regular Humans wouldn’t do that.
@gergory: Well, the fact that Robin is 600 years older than Colin is what attracted him to her in the first place, I think that counts, doesn’t it?
https://puckcomics.com/?comic=puck-12
@DLKmusic
Pretty hard to dispute who was “robbin’ the cradle” here, eh ?
@SalemCat: I groaned so hard at that even the ghosts complained.
@DLKmusic
Yeah … Heh Heh Heh
“ROBIN the Cradle”
(I am so cleva)
Yeah, that’s the closest it’s ever come to being a plot point. Good analysis.
Regular humans wouldn’t pretend to be a stool and then disappear, making an old granny fall on her bum, or pretend to be a roasted crabapple in her ale, either. 😛 Ooh, that would be a great fanart….
That reminds me of something you said during the fruitcake discussion, which didn’t hit me until later…
What kind of cat doesn’t like milk?
That was *supposed* to be a reply to SalemCat’s comment about birthday invitations.
@Wyvern
Milk is horrible – Egg Nog is worse.
The only thing either is good for is drowning that awful ELF ON THE SHELF.
Believe me, if you know the stuff he caught me doing, drowning him was an act of mercy.
(hint – don’t look real close at a cat grooming itself. you may regret it)
Bushy tails…. does this mean that the female cast are going to get articulated feather boas and Christmas tinsel bushy tails added to their wedding garments?
@pat
O M G
Purrrrrrr……..
Well, Phoebe DID wear a feather boa for the first three years of the comic, so it’s possible.
First Panel: Is Phoebe mailing someone her Car Keys ?
She’s putting the keys back in a small purse. Or mailing them to someone.
Working at Howlers, she might get all sorts of things as tips and hints. The polite thing to do is to accept the keys to the BMW and then mail them back with a note of regret.
I suspect motel room keys would be proffered more often than BMW keys, but, then what do I know? Other than reading Arthur Hailey’s “Hotel?”
@Susan
Mere Motel Keys ?
PAHHHH !
Phoebe has higher standards than that.
Hence the envelope and stamp. Farewell, creepy customer, I shall apply your very large tip to a worthwhile cause.
@Susan
Worthwhile Cause, eh ?
Would “REUNITE CATS WITH CAT-TAR-EE-AH” qualify ?
(i’ll start it up right away)
Knowing Phloebles, it would be “Stamp Out Anorexia Nervosa!”
Hey, you have to invite the squirrels!
There’s no real choice in the matter.
Hi, all. I am in Aspen on a skiing vacation. But, even though I am drunk and sleepy, did I not vote for PUCK? Pfui. yes I did. Check you all tomorrow. Hee hhee
Hey, and the voting incentive is actually topical for you!
Yes, indeedy. But I am NOT wearing Mary Janes in the snow, just my last year’s ski boots.
Damn it Gecko, I’m pissed. I go and drop a nugget of Canadian lore like ‘Henry Green’ and nothing. I’m so upset I can’t even enjoy laughing at all of the people slipping and sliding in the snow outside.
I’m not a very good Canadian. Sorry.
It’s cold enough here to be Canada. But the fire is nice and cosy and my bf (who wouldn’t go skiing, the spoilsport) made a pot roast for dinner. We made mulled wine, so I am a happy camper.
The best part of winter weather is having an excuse to stay indoors.
Hooray for the Calvin and Hobbes shoutout in the incentive 🙂
It was fun looking at those old comics for reference.
19, 000, 000 results. What is wrong with our world that “squirrel wedding” gets millions of results?
Well, to be fair, it feels like every two word phrase on Google gets nineteen million results. Like, I just typed in ‘aardvark cupcake’, two random words, and I got 204,000. If I swap out ‘aardvark’ with a more popular animal, like ‘tiger’, the results go up to 10 million.
Man, is that couch in the way of getting a full shot of Phoebe’s painted on shorts? Always nice to see what she’s rocking next.
Well, we’ve seen her in that outfit a bunch before, so I felt that a little bit of couch coverage didn’t hurt anything.
I like the shocked look on Colin’s face in panels 3 & 4. Like, he’s just as shocked as everyone else by what is coming out of his mouth but is incapable of stopping it.
That is the way with such things. It’s the earnest look of the drugged.