Fairweather Zealot

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.

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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.

What to do, what to do?

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:

• 2 bills are completely recovered – both serial numbers intact and most of the bill remaining.
• 1 bill mostly recovered – one serial number intact, the other partially there and a good 75% of the bill.
• 1 bill is very iffy – one serial number and barely 50% of the bill.

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.

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Marty August 7th, 2008

She’s taking FOUR pets to the vet today: 2 dogs and 2 cats. Among the things going on (oh, this is going to cost us):

1. Check-ups and shots for all 4
2. New puppy prozac for Miles
3. Preventative antibiotics for our trip to the beach (the dogs got hot spots the last two years)
4. Antiseptic spray and lotion in case of hot spots this year
5. Checking a lump on Miles (not cancer, not cancer, NOT cancer…)
6. Checking Miko (cat) for weight & hair loss and puking

I think I’ll pick her up a medal on the way home.

The 3 days until vacation list

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Marty February 27th, 2007

My wife put this one up. I think it’s adorable – but it’s my dog, so what do I know?

Miles and I were going through Blair’s hope chest earlier. He made off with one of Blairs baby shoes. When I went to go get it back, I found both of them, like this, in Blair’s room. Looks like we both miss him.

« See about waiting on Flickr »

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Marty January 16th, 2007

This is Jazz, our new super-kitten. She’s always pulling new stunts, like flying out the door when we try to let the dogs in, or climbing up into the drop ceiling or tormenting our older cat, Miko. Her latest penchant seems to involve torturing the fish. After trying from the top for a week or so, it seems that Jazz has found a new way to look at the fish – either that, or she really wants some sushi. Or as my wife put it on her Flickr account:

“After several months of trying to figure out why that bala shark had been (apparently) trying to commit suicide, I think I may have figured it out.”

She’s an odd one, that Jazz.

• Family , Humor , Pets
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Marty December 13th, 2006

Jazz had a hard day Monday – an early appointment to get spayed, followed by about 10 hours of recovery before the anesthesia wore off enough for her to go home. Yesterday, still recovering from her spaying, she found the napping in mom’s lap was by far the best medicine.

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Marty October 11th, 2006

A lot of things going on in my life and the world at large. Some are only ripples in a global sense, but tsunami in personal terms. Others are globally-explicit rogue waves that could dissipate harmlessly or end up crashing against our shores. And then there are the waves being generated nationally from the inside by the derelicts running the wave pool in Washington. Ebbing and waning, low and high tides across the board. Continue Reading »

• Family , Friends , Pets , Politics , Rants
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Marty September 4th, 2006

Oakley’s a beach dog, you know.

Oakley enjoyed soaking in the sun, body surfing, sand, frisbee in the surf. You know – the stuff that everyone enjoys at the beach. He was simply in his element when we took him to swim, play and surf.

Now if we could just get this bacterial infection he got somewhere along the way under control…

• Family , Pets , Photography , Play
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Marty September 6th, 2005

Dichotomy

I’m not sure how to feel about my vacation last week. In some ways, it seemed so wrong to be having a good time in N. Topsail Beach while the suffering was going on down in the south. To be honest, many of us were torn between watching the news and seeing what was happening, and salvaging our own much-needed vacation by pushing that away – it would become all too real once we returned to the ‘Real World’. Continue Reading »

• Beer , Birding , Eating , Family , Flickr , Friends , Pets , Photography , Play , Travel
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Marty June 28th, 2005

Thanks to Van, who kindly invited me and the mutts over to go swimming in the lakes near his house. After a small introduction period that involved some pulling, barking and growling, the three golden retrievers seemed to get along pretty well. After a beer and a survey of the yard, we headed to the pond to let the dogs take a dip.

Problem – my dogs aren’t exactly Mark Spitz and Ian Thorpe with fur and fangs. Oakley seemed to get used to it after a bit and enjoyed the swimming part (although he seemed to enjoy the rolling around in the dirt afterward part more. Miles started strong, leaping after his tennis ball into the deep water. But I think that it startled him, and he wasn’t so keen on the water/swimming thing after that and had to rely on Yogi (Van’s huge golden) to retrieve the tennis ball for him.

Still, they seemed to enjoy it – as well as the baths they got later in their pool. I’ll have photos as soon as I have time to put them up. Thanks Van for having all of us over – it was great to finally meet your family.

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• Hawaii Isn’t Really a State

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