Archive for the ‘General Schtuff’ Category

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

When we moved into our home five years ago, there wasn’t much around. Since then, several more houses have been built in our neighborhood, and our little town got a McDonald’s and a big name grocery store.

The area we live in is relatively quiet, so imagine our surprise when one of the homes in our area was broken into, and another had their car stolen. It sure made a few of us wary of “traffic” in the neighborhood, and a few of us purchased ADT home security systems to keep an eye on our belongings.

My neighbor had his installed the day he closed on his house, and it’s a good thing he did because that night someone tried to break in and take his washing machine. Who steals washing machines anyway? He was fortunate because he had the home surveillance system installed too and the authorities were able to identify the culprit.

A couple weeks later someone tried to get in through another neighbors back door. We have been fortunate, but I’m sure the signs in the yard, and having a home surveillance and security system have really paid off.

Today was a very emotional day.

It all started at 6:30 when the alarm went off and I quickly woke up the entire family. There was never any doubt that we would all go together to take Flash to this very important appointment today.

We arrived about 20 minutes early, which was amazing seeing how the Atlanta traffic was. After completing the new patient registration form, they took us all into a small 10×15 room. I have to admire the kids for sitting there, listening to things they could not understand, keeping quiet so we could comprehend what the veterinarian was telling us.

Flash’s prognosis is not good. The deterioration in the bone is so bad that he is now at the point that just walking could cause hairline fractures and more pain. The veterinarian explained everything to us, he covered all the options. I am so glad he did.

The first thing Flash needs is an immediate amputation of his right front leg. They will have to take the shoulder and the shoulder blade too. His recovery from the amputation will be rather quick, but he will never recover from the cancer.

The veterinarian explained that there is no doubt the cancer has spread and Flash has at best 6 months to 1 year left with us. He discussed the options for chemotherapy, but even with the treatment that shows the best results, the most Flash gains is an additional 6 months to 1 year.

We will never know what Flash is thinking, or what he wants. I do know that if it were me, I would choose the quality of life over the quantity. It just seems more logical to me to allow him to live as a happy 3 legged dog for 6 months to a year, running around in sexy costumes, rather than have him laying around listless, drooling, in a heap of fur on the floor, too sick to notice whether or not we were even in the room.

So for now, we are planning on the amputation. He has pain pills to get him through til we can get that done in the next week or so, and after that is done, we will take it from there.

Our dog Flash has been limping for the last week or two, so we took him to the vet today. It turns out he has cancer. We have another appointment on Tuesday to find out how bad it is, and what we can do for him.

I know to many of you he is just a dog, but he’s a part of our family and I would appreciate some prayers if you’re so inclined.

There’s nothing like an attempt at government regularion of what you should and shouldn’t do on the weekend. Government mandated rest is one thing, government mandated silence is quite another.

It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not to use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays.

Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerries.

The department’s deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry “blackout” between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.

“Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department,” Fadden wrote.

Yeah, like this is going to work. Have you ever seen a drug addict that was able to “step away” from it all for the weekend? Have you ever seen an alcoholic put down his drink simply because he needed to “balance” his life? Puhleaze! Now pick up that blackberry and get back on the treadmill. You’re getting fat.

I planned to sit down at the computer tonight and have fun. No day job work, no contract work, no design work. Just play.

As I sat down I saw the flood of ovre 200 comments. They were all from people taking advantage of the “Do Follow” policy I had on the site. “Do Follow” is no more.

It wasn’t an issue before, but all of a sudden every spammer in the world has decided to stop in and put in their two cents on the post below this one. Oh, I am sure the comments are being left by real people because Akismet wasn’t throwing them into moderation, but I don’t need to have my thing enlarged, my breasts are fine like they are, I don’t need any diamond pendants, lucky charms, or good luck pieces. So anyway, no more “Do-Follow” I just “Can’t Take It”.

Anyway, since I had to work by deleting the comments and removing the “Do Follow” blogroll and such, I decided to modify this nifty theme from Jai Nischal Verma. Nice and clean and all that jazz.

With all my holiday shopping, online and from catalogs, I forgot to look for a medical id bracelet.

I wanted to get one for my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, as stocking stuffers, and forgot all about it. I know a gift like that isn’t the most special thing in the world, but I thought they would be nice “useful” gifts that could end up saving their lives.

My arms and legs have been killing me for the past couple days, ever since I stopped taking all the medications for my tooth extraction. It gets to the point that I cannot even sit at the computer for more than 10 minutes without cramping up. I know my situation is not bad, but I have a friend with fibromyalgia, and if this is even one-tenth the pain they are suffering, I just cannot fathom how they function every day.

I’m sure what I have will go away in a few days, what they have won’t, and that just sucks.

With the Mitchell report coming out, telling us all everything we already knew, are we surprised by the revelations inside the report, or did we all expect them? Maybe the people involved shocked you? Not me. You see, doctors have been prescribing legal steroids and prohormones for years to help with injuries and other things, so it shouldn’t shock anybody that these guys were using them to build muscle.

While we were out Christmas shopping, I almost bought an HD television. Yes. I came real close, but I just couldn’t do it. It’s tight enough as it is this year, and I just couldn’t see going into debt for a television.

Okay, who am I kidding? The real reason I didn’t get it, is because I couldn’t find the perfect tv mount at the time. Sure, I have found one since then, but now the “buyers remorse” is kicking in before I even buy the damn thing.