The Appointment Is Made

Less than 72 hours. I made an appointment at the vet to have Cherokee put down on Friday morning at 0830. At this moment it is more peace than regret, although it may be a little early, I don't want to be too late. He still gets around though all limpy, he can only hear the loudest sounds, can no longer see well enough to catch a treat, and hard food is, well, hard for him to eat, he is so skinny now.

He had a bad night last night, and taking care of him is increasingly difficult.

Puppy-boy in happier, stronger days several years ago.

I have a million stories about Cherokee, but the most important is this, he saved my life. Not in the jump in a river when I am drowning kind of way, but in a slower, steadier way. When I was newly divorced, in the midst of recovery, and suicidally depressed ... he was there, a reason to have to get up, someone I couldn't leave behind. Thanks Cherokee. I will have more about the life and times of Cherokee on a later posting.

Anyone who wants to stop by on Thursday and say goodbye, for your own benefit, you may. You do NOT have to come, do not treat this as an obligation, but as an opportunity. I will need the support afterwards, not before. This is for people who need the closure, I will be there with him as he passes, then I will cry.

And the circle of life goes on, mom got a puppy yesterday.

Congratulations!

Lord save us all from even more public kissing from Cornstalker and Viv. No one even go near any glassware with anything metal.

I direct your attention to the shiny thing on the left hand of Vivian.

Congratulations, I'm so excited for both of you. You can see Viv's story about it here. Cornstalker had less to say here.

How Smart Are We?

I am a big believer in "the more things change, the more they stay the same". I was struck by this thought as I read this article about HGH (Human Growth Hormone). Here is an excerpt below:

LOS ANGELES, California -- Dr. Andre Berger sees himself as a pioneer. Where others in the medical community believe injections of human growth hormone should be given to adults in only rare cases, Berger believes it is a crucial part of keeping people young and vital.

Berger, who has been practicing anti-aging and holistic medicine for 30 years, says he is now prescribing injections of HGH to about one out of every four people he treats at his Rejuvalife Vitality Institute in Beverly Hills...

Now it's true, I am not a physician, but I think I can recognize a conman / slick salesman when I see one. One doctor selling anti-aging to the rich and beautiful, glowing testimonials, and a lack of scientific evidence.

Besides the phrase at the top, as I read this article, I was reminded firstly of the story of Radithor, (here is the Wikipedia Reference), a medicinal product marketed in the 1920s that was basically distilled water with radioactive salts mixed in. People drank this radioactive substance as a cure all, and it was by no means the only radioactive "medicine" available. What makes Radithor interesting was that the use of it was directly tied to the death of an individual (read articles) and led to the FDA having considerable say in the manufacture and use of medicines. Of course before radioactive products were the rage, there were cocaine and opium based products.

I was also reminded of ongoing controversy with steroids, ritalin, or half a dozen (or million) other drugs and substances as well. All of this makes me wonder just how smart we are. As we recoil in horror from the drug/chemical mistakes of the past, how will our great-grandchildren view our habits of today?

Which brings me to another favorite phrase of mine "Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it..." Although in truth, even when we know history, we repeat it anyways.

Worth 1k words, no make it 1M

Wow! This captures the true spirit of the OnionBoy.

Thanks to Viv for making me laugh, out loud, alone in a room, at work.

Odd-servations

For my Facebook friends, Odd-servations comes out several times a year when I have really nothing interesting to say, but feel like writing anyways.

It's Cold
Cherokee decided it is too cold to make it out to the yard to do his business, he only got to the bottom of the deck stairs. I guess this is better than in the house.

Who is Jeff Hagstrom?
So I received a notice on Facebook that Jeff Hagstrom wanted to be my friend. Between dancing and Bible study, I know several Jeffs that I am unaware of their last names. No picture, but he was showing as friends with Jessica, so I figured it must be dancing, right? So I hit the yes button.

A couple days later I looked back at his profile. Still no picture, but we had another mutual friend now, Jenny Jitterbug. Cool, definitely dancing ... I kind of let it go, but something was still gnawing at the back of my mind. So tonight I asked SmileChild who he was, she had no idea.

So I called Jenny Jitterbug tonight and asked her. She has no idea who he is either. She added him because she saw him on mine. She also added that she sent him a message asking him who he was and did he know her, he said "...I don't know you, but I'd like to get to know you..." This is perfectly understandable someone wants to get to know Jenny Jitterbug, I mean she is cute and bubbly, but me?

One thing Jenny and I agree on, we wouldn't normally add someone to our lists we don't personally know. So, who actually knows Jeff Hagstrom?

It's Cold
Did I mention it is cold? Global warming my butt.

Funny Question Leads To All Evening Discussion
I got a text from SingingMonkeyGirl last night asking where a Catholic priest goes for confession. Three hours later, I had no chores done, SmileChild didn't do any homework, Ivar was questioned, Cornstalker was probably feeling mostly ignored, and I'm sure SingingMonkeyGirl didn't accomplish much either.

The conclusion, I'm a lover not a fighter.

Please direct all further doctrine questions to (SmileChild's friend) Kevin.

It's Cold
Seriously, I would just move to Saskatoon if I wanted weather like this. Hey check it out, a polar bear just ambled by on that glacier over there.

The Car That Wouldn't Start?
Twice in the last three weeks my car has not started. Both times in bitter cold. Both times the battery was so dead the car had to sit for a couple minutes being jumped before it would turn over. Drive it home, it starts up fine the next day. Last night around 0200 there was an announcement over the intercom at work to go move our cars. I went out, and the engine would not budge. Crap!

I called security, and it turned out where I was parked was fine. So I just went back to work. At 0645 I went out to double check it just to be sure before I called for a ride or jump. It started right up.

Vivian said it might be trunk light stuck on, I think she might be correct. Much thanks to my coworker who doesn't even want his first name on the internet and to Jose for jump-starting me.

It's Cold
I've thrown my sleeping bag on my usual pile of blankets I sleep under.

Migraines
For those of you who don't understand what a migraine is like, here is a question to answer: you have a migraine, you go to get your last migraine pill, but you drop it ... in the cat box. What do you do?

If you suffer from migraines, you know the answer. No, it hasn't happened to me, but if it did.

It's Cold
The last time it was above freezing here in Omaha was the evening of January 13, and it looks like we have at least two and a half more days of this. No, this is not "normal" weather for Omaha, the average high even at this time of year is 32F.