Good Friday!

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My boy Rocky isn't doing too well. I thought I was gonna have to put him "down" this morning. Still may have to Monday if he doesn't react to treatment and medicine. Our story begins... a week or so ago. Ever since a fall from the side porch of our new house, he's been steadily declining health wise. Since Wednesday night, he's been hacking, walking really stiff, and barely eating or drinking. He HAS been "going to the bathroom" so that's a good sign along with the eating and drinking. A vet visit this morning revealed a crushed trachea as well as a couple of other issues. The fall knocked out a couple of bottom teeth as well as crushing a front canine tooth back to where it'll have to be removed. I admit I have neglected proper dental care on my dogs.BAD HUMAN, I know!. PLEASE don't' neglect your dog's teeth like I did!!!!!

The kind folks at the vet are keeping him today doing a variety of tests, xrays, etc.
I just received a call from my wife (11:55am ET) stating the vet said Rocky's heart, lungs, liver, and kidney functions are VERY good for a 15 year old dog- KUDOS to Iam's with an occasional can of Pedigree mixed in. He is blind in one eye and is going blind in the other. We're gonna pick him up this evening after 6pm.

The bottom line is that he is too old for surgery to replace or repair the trachea. There is medicine that can relax him and help it heal. The vet assured me that he is not in pain- other than the pain associated with "hacking" and gasping for air. We'll know by Monday afternoon as to whether the treatment, shots, and medicines will work. If they don't, well, I'm not selfish enough to prolong his life in that way.

I AM conflicted, though. I mean, I care more about this "dog" than I do most strangers or people I deal with that I don't know. I understand that my dogs have an affect on me as children would. There's a part of me that's screaming "It's just a dog!". There are friends and acquaintances who echo those sentiments. I can only attribute my irrational thoughts, my strong emotional feelings, joy, and heartaches about our dogs to being a flawed human. Many would agree and disagree with me. All I can say is that I love my dog Rocky and hopefully will have him around, pain free, for a little while longer, God willing. I will put the laptop down for a while, delay and enjoy my friend a little longer.

Tuesday September 1, 2009

Happy Tuesday!!

It’s been a steady day here at work all day. As my buddy Andrew would say, It’s been 1’0-busy’ this afternoon. Outside the temperature is about 15 to 20 degrees cooler than it has been- YIPPEE!! My wife continues her forced temporary sabbatical from work. Hopefully for only a couple or three weeks. Money’s gonna be tight, but when in the last 2 years has it NOT been so? My Pomeranian Nikki is SO pregnant. Her due date is around the last week of September. I got a new job prospect to supplement my full time job here at the county- WHOO-HOO!! My car remains a jalopy with no air conditioning, but God provides me with transportation, so I’m very thankful. I have the best family and friends in the world. I’ve very grateful to them. Don’t know what I’m gonna do the next two days (Wednesday & Thursday). Hopefully something good.

Below is some stuff I noticed online this afternoon….

The Farmers' Almanac is predicting a cold winter for most of the US. Here in the Southeast, it should be mild and dry. The venerable almanac's 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says numbing cold will predominate in the country's midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East. The almanac, which has been published since 1818.

The top-selling Bible in North America will undergo its first revision in 25 years, modernizing the language in some sections and promising to reopen a contentious debate about changing gender terms in the sacred text. The New International Version, the Bible of choice for conservative evangelicals, will be revised to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, it was announced Tuesday. The revision is scheduled to be completed late next year and published in 2011.

Police in Michigan say a first date went from bad to worse when a Detroit man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date's car. The woman told police that the man said he left his wallet in her car and asked for keys. He then sped away in the 2000 Chevrolet Impala. He was arrested a short time later.

President Barack Obama stuck with the picks of former President George W. Bush in reappointing Fed chief Ben Bernanke and Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday. He still does not have his own people in a majority of the government's top policymaking positions requiring Senate confirmation. But those he has put in top positions include a number of Republicans or nontraditional Democrats.

This year The Wizard of Oz plans to celebrate its 70th anniversary in a big way: A special edition of the movie will be released Sept. 29 on DVD and Blu-ray. One of the most fun Oz-related events happens Sept. 23, when the movie returns to theaters for a screening in high definition. More than 440 locations are participating in the one-night event, which will include the documentary To Oz! The Making of a Classic

20th Century Fox is the latest studio to start the process of overhauling one of its big Marvel Entertainment franchises, “Fantastic Four,” which has already hatched two films. The studio has hired Akiva Goldsman to oversee the re-boot as producer.

Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar of Tontitown, Ark., featured on TLC's "18 Kids and Counting." Are expecting their 19th child.

A wire-haired dachshund that held the record as the world's oldest dog and celebrated its last birthday with a party at a dog hotel and spa has died at age 21 — or 147 in dog years. The dog, named Chanel, died Friday of natural causes at her owners' home in suburban Port Jefferson Station, on Long Island

Two new Rand Corp. studies suggest that retail health clinics ( like the ones in CVS drugstores, WalMart, Target, etc) can offer cheaper, better-quality care for common medical complaints than doctors, urgent-care providers and ERs . Click on THIS link to read the entire story- http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090901/hl_time/08599191975400

An animal rights group publicized a video today showing unwanted chicks being tossed alive into a grinder at an Iowa plant and accused egg hatcheries of being "perhaps the cruelest industry" in the world. The undercover video was shot by Chicago-based Mercy for Animals at a hatchery in Spencer, Iowa, over a two-week period in May and June. The video shows someone tossing male chicks, which have little value because they can't lay eggs or be raised quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat, into grinders. According to United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, this is common industry practice.

Gasoline in North Carolina recently became a penny a gallon higher because of a new fuel tax.

And finally…..

A Connecticut man put his parents up for sale on Craigslist as a joke to pass the time on a rainy weekend. Michael Amatrudo, a 51-year-old Madison resident and insurance executive, says in the ad that he's gotten "lots of use out of these guys over the past 50 years, but it's time to move on." He says he'll take $155 or a trade for a younger set of parents, an Erector set or a "hot blonde." Amatrudo says he's gotten dozens of responses from around the country, including inquiries about who would pay the shipping cost and how many days it would take to receive them. He says his parents, Ed and Arlene Amatrudo of Noank, have a good sense of humor and took the ad in stride.

Take care- see ya!!