Marty September 4th, 2009
It seems that things can be too good to be true, and such was the case for our rental for the week. I mentioned yesterday that it was a bit small, and while that was not such a huge deal, some other … characteristics were a bit more off-putting. Continue Reading »
Marty September 2nd, 2009
After a long year and lots of hard work, Shari needed a vacation and I loved the idea of a week at the beach. She did the research, since it can be tough to find a dog-friendly place at the shore, and secured a small bungalow down in Cape May for a week. Continue Reading »
Marty July 1st, 2009
Miles when I found three lumps – squishy ones on his back and belly, and what looked like a pimple that was twice the size it had been a week earlier. That, coupled with his increasing difficulty in getting up off the floor due to stiffness prompted an impromptu vet visit last night.
We got good news and bad news – good news: he doesn’t have cancer, he’s just fat. The lumps were ‘fatty deposits’ that were a combination of getting older and him being a lard ass. The ‘pimple’ was a cyst but nothing to worry about unless it doesn’t resolve in a week or two.
As for his stiffness, that’s the bad news. Miles has burgeoning hip dysplasia in both hips, and it’s causing stress on his bad knees as well. Luckily, the vet thought that him losing about 10 pounds, coupled with more EASY exercise and some OTC meds (anti-inflammatories, glucosamine + chondroitan, omega-3 fatty acids) should relieve many of his symptoms and surgery can be held off. Which is good, because with all of his other health problems, I’m not sure we’d spend the money on the surgery for him.
It’s a hard decision to make, but it’s not only hips – it’s all four knees which would have to be fixed too, and we simply can’t afford $10,000 for a dog who – while very lovable – is prematurely aging and probably won’t be around much longer. I hate thinking that we are already making decisions like that about him – sealing his fate, as it were – but it’s a necessary evil.
In any case, we can treat him and make him feel better, and since he seems generally happy (if a bit bored since we have been too busy to spend enough time with either dog), I hope that will be enough to help him enjoy his life with a minimum of pain.
Marty June 20th, 2009
Last Saturday, I got a bunch of cash out because we needed some for a graduation gift and some for cash on hand. It was in those envelopes that banks give you, which I hate and normally dispose of quickly. For some reason, however, I kept the money in there this time and when we got home from the Phillies game Sunday, I put it down on my desk. Fast forward 3 days, and when I got to look for it, it’s gone. I look everywhere, ranting and raving about how I can’t figure out where it would have gone. Shari looks at me with that knowing look, sure that I have just misplaced it, while I’m sure that I knew where I put it but look elsewhere anyway. I even make a passing joke that maybe the dogs ate it.
So yesterday, I get a message from Shari that she has found the money. Unfortunately, she found it while cleaning the yard of the dogs’ ‘business’. Yes, that’s right – it was in the dog poop. Literally, the dogs did eat the money – about $80 worth. Near as I can figure, the cat – upon NOT getting her way – knocked the envelope to the ground, where our Dog Oakley investigated and, having a distinct penchant for eating paper (napkins, paper towels, coupons, rummy score sheets, etc.) decided that the envelope and its contents looked simply DEE-lish.
Well, if it were $2 or even $20, I would have written that off. But $80 was a little much to just shrug away so I did what might be the second worst job I have ever done*, and I grabbed some latex gloves and went after the money. It wasn’t a pretty job, but a little ‘probing’ provided me with a bunch of scraps of $20 bills. Washing them off in the yard, I realized that I had parts of 4 different bills, but not necessarily ALL of the bills. Back in I went for round 2.
At the end, I had all of the scraps I could find, so I rinsed them off with the hose, then put them in a plastic bag with a ton of rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide to sanitize them. After a couple hours in that solution, I rinsed them a half-dozen times with hot water and then dried them out. This morning, I put them together and taped them. End result:
Now, according to the rules from the Treasury department, as long as a bill is over 50% present and is identifiable as U.S. currency, the banks have to accept it and give me a new bill. As you can see below, I think I should get all $80 back. But we’ll see.
As for Oakley, I’d prefer if he’s start laying golden eggs instead of recycling my hard-earned cash.
Marty June 1st, 2009
Yesterday was a scary day for Shari and I, especially her. I woke up a bit earlier than her, but was still struggling to get moving with all of the things that I had to do. She woke up with a bad headache, which she attributed to a combination of allergies and dehydration. She tried hydrating before she had to get ready to leave for a shoot, but it didn’t seem to be helping. She was upstairs when I heard her call me. When I got there, she said she was really not feeling well, and then she went to sit down. It took me a few seconds to realize that she hadn’t said anything since she sat and a few more to see that she wasn’t responding to me. I panicked when I realized she had passed out, and tried to revive her by patting her cheek. She seemed to come to, but was really out of it and was slurring – and then she was out again. Continue Reading »
Marty May 27th, 2009
This past weekend was one of celebration for most people – a three day weekend worth barbecued and volleyball. Shari and I decided to take another tact and spend the extended weekend continuing with our larger house projects – a three day ‘workend’, as it were. Continue Reading »
Marty May 13th, 2009
So for Mother’s Day, Shari asked for one thing – that we take down the back porch which was in desperate need of repair. She had decided she would rather have it down than try to fix it, and thought we could do it rather quickly and easily. I had my doubts, but it was Mother’s Day, so who am I to argue, right? Continue Reading »
Marty April 6th, 2009
Well, it was an eventful weekend-plus at the DeAngelo household. With our trip coming up, our weekends to get things done around here were becoming more and more limited, so we knew that we had to get some things done for spring. So, I took a couple days off to spend some time around the yard, prepping it for the coming months. We ordered 6 cubic yards of mulch, and I prepped for a few days of spreading it. But that would end up having to wait. Continue Reading »
Marty December 10th, 2008
Well, another birthday has come and gone: another year older, another year (hopefully) wiser, and definitely another year achier.
All in all, it’s been a VERY busy weekend-plus. I helped Van with some ZPC stuff, FINALLY went birding again, went to lunch with my dad (and helped the parents get their Xmas decorations out of the attic), scanned the last of the old family photos, went to the movies to see “Cadillac Records”, and celebrated my birthday Monday by NOT checking work email our really working at all. And then last night I finally finished the ABC book that I have been creating for my nephew, Caleb. Continue Reading »
Marty October 28th, 2008
It’s been tough to sit down and write this. Tough to even think about it. Tough to remember the words my father was able to choke out before the emotions took over. Tough to believe that my grandfather was really dead.
We had gotten the word from my aunt that he was going downhill again, and so I left work to try to get to see him. My father was coming back from North Carolina to see him. It seemed evident that the end was near and that he would not likely make it to election day. Unfortunately, by the time I made it home from work, I realized that by the time I got through traffic, he would be sleeping. So I made my plans to go see him Saturday morning. My father did the same.
I was just about to get in the shower when the call came – he had died that night. There would be no visit that day, or ever again.
Saturday was a blur. I made my way to my parents while we waited for plans to be made. I called my sister to let her know and to see if she would be coming up. Shari was hosting a photography seminar, and was committed to a dozen photogs, so had to give moral support via phone. I remember eating at my parents, talking to them, listening to the usual drama that surrounds most conversations about my family. But when I got home that night to Shari’s arms, it was tough to really tell her what had transpired throughout the day. The only thing that resonated was the simple fact that my grandfather – that old curmudgeon – wouldn’t be there to give me shit, to lambaste the liberals, decry the failings of the government and to talk of the past, all with a twinkle in his eye.
Strangely, I didn’t have any guilt about not making it down threw night before, for would have been his last night on earth. No, the last time I had seen him was how I wanted to remember him – more mentally together than he had been in years, and offering up wisdom that lacked his usual edge. His final words to me were his dying thoughts, his legacy; I can’t imagine any better way to picture him in my mind.
Now we begin our days without our patriarch, the man who – for better or worse – was the head of the family. Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad blood in my family that is rearing its ugly head now, and I can only hope that people can be civil to each other until well after the funeral on Thursday. For me, I just want to say my final goodbyes, to remember a man who did so much for me and who I know loved me although he would never say the words.
Goodbye, Ol’ Curmudgeon, and I will see you on the other side. Until then, don’t harass those liberals up there too much.
