Some Things Friday for September 18, 2009

This has been a weird couple of weeks.

Goldie is fine, but on medication until October 6th. I wrote about her rat poison ingestion on Myspace, but not here, so I might as well bring my faithful readers up to date.

A couple of weeks ago, our spa stopped working again. The spa sits on the patio and Tom and Scott (a friend of ours) built a raised deck and stairs around it for easy in and out. Tom anticipated the need to maintain and/or repair the spa sometime in the future, so he made the stairs removable and by tipping them forward, the whole front of the spa is exposed and the enclosure can be unscrewed and removed. There is also an access through the enclosure on the right side of the spa, so Tom built the deck portion with a cut-out section and drilled two finger holes in for easy removal on that side, too. So, for the spa guy to repair it, Tom has to remove the stairs in front of the spa and also the portion of the deck on the side.



Last winter, we saw a rodent (large mouse) run across the steps in front of the back door toward the spa so Tom pulled up the two access areas and we placed rodent poison underneath the decking and then he replaced the steps and deck portion. A month ago when the spa guy was here before, we noticed that there were rodent turds under the steps and all the poison had been eaten, so we replaced the empties with new poison, then put everything back again.

So two weeks ago when the spa guy was supposed to be here, Tom once again removed the steps and the deck portion for the spa guy, then came in the house. As we sat down with a cup of coffee, I asked him if he had picked up the poison and he said no, but he didn't think Goldie would eat it.

He has good reason to think that. She is a very, very picky eater. We bought training treats for her and as well as other treats (made by the same company that makes her dog food), but she wouldn't eat either one. Honestly, she doesn't eat hardly anything. She eats the one brand of dog food we routinely buy her, mixed with a small can of wet dog food...as long as it's not some sort of beef dinner. If we mix the dry food with beef dinner, the food will remain in the dish all day long.

Anyway, I said that I didn't want the birds to eat it either, so Tom got up and went back outside to pick up the poison and all three of the poison containers were empty!!

We knew we had to get Goldie to the vet's right away, so Tom put her in the car and took her to Dr. Chris'. Goldie was in their office and throwing up (induced by them) within 40 minutes of ingesting the poison. Luckily, this poison takes about 12 hours to work because it is anti-coagulant (makes them bleed internally) and has to be in the blood stream.

As I said, she is going to be okay, but she gets 7 pills shoved down her throat every single morning. A few minutes later, we have to pick up the 3 or 4 pills she's managed to hide somewhere under her tongue and then spit out on the patio. Those pills are now sticky and slimy and a lot more difficult to shove down her throat a second time, coupled with the fact that Goldie is pretty tired of having human fingers in her throat and has learned how to clench her teeth together. It's such a lovely way to start the day.

I took her to the vet yesterday for a follow-up. They took blood and she's doing fine, but we have to continue giving her the pills until her next visit in October (Oh, thank you so much...).

As I said in my Myspace bulletin, there is a positive side. The fact that Goldie had to crawl into two holes in the deck to get at the rodent poison means she's becoming more curious, which is a good thing because she has always been very withdrawn and without any instinctual curiosity at all.

On the negative side...well, when I took her to the vet yesterday, I had to drag her out of the car. She is definitely not going to be a happy camper the next time we take her in for boarding.

Well, I think I'll get started on this...

Some Things I Love:

1. My sister, Robin. I just got a text from her and she is being released from the hospital today after hip surgery!

2. Accomplishing some portion of the remodel on this house. I am painting, which is what I should be doing instead of this. We are trying to get the living room ready to move the HUGE tv from the den to the living room. I finally sold the piano and we will move the media cabinet to it's place. Tom bought 4 new in-wall speakers for the surround sound and installed them over the last couple of days. I'm painting the walls and trim. I have one more wall to go, then I have to paint the screens that cover the speakers. This is how my living room has looked since last weekend...



I am hoping by the end of the day, the living room will sort of be back to normal...only looking better.

3. The changes we are making to the living room and the den (where the tv and media cabinet are right now...taking up way too much space in that little room).


4. My new dining table and chairs. And I sold my old set after being listed on Craigslist for only 3 days.

5. Tom's patience. I'm such a bitch sometimes...really.

Some Things I Hate:

1. Living so far from my family. Not just my kids and grandkids, but my sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins. We're pretty much isolated here and traveling is a requirement.

2. Door to door sales people. I hate answering my doorbell and being accosted by a cheery, but abrasive individual selling magazines, yard care or frozen meat and vegetables from a truck sitting in my driveway. No, no, and no. Thank you.

3. I went to a meeting at our church last week. We watched a short video. The preacher in the video was admonishing his congregation for not helping their church grow by inviting people to go to church with them. He said, "These people are going to hell for not going to church and YOU don't care." Huh???? I think I'll take a step back, take a deep breath and reduce my involvement.

4. Mosquitoes. I suppose everyone hates them, but I especially hate them this year. It's been extremely wet and mosquitoes are prolific and ravenous. My legs are scarred from bites, even when I use a repellent. I can't wait for cold weather to kill them off.

5. I have to say it and I have to name names...Kanye West, Joe Wilson and (damn!) Serena Williams. Kanye...well, this guy just doesn't get it. At every single awards ceremony he attends, they should set up Kanye-Security-Guards just to keep this idiot off stage. Joe Wilson...dude, you want to call the President a liar then do it somewhere else besides during the President's speech before a joint session of Congress. And, yes, you need to apologize IN PERSON to the President and IN PUBLIC to Congress and the American people for your disrespectful and boorish behavior. And Serena, Serena, Serena...when did you become such a poor sport and so big for your britches that you think it's okay to say those things to a line judge (or anyone else, for that matter)?

Some Things I Just Don’t Get:

1. How anyone can make an argument and justify for-profit health care. It does not make one wit of sense to me whatsoever to continue to allow an industry to operate whose sole purpose is to make obscene profits by denying people health and, in some cases, life. Americans don't sacrifice the lives of others for profit. Well, maybe we do.

2. If I were to walk around my neighborhood with a sign that said, "I've Come Unarmed (This Time)," someone would call the police and I would be arrested and charged with terroristic threatening because my sign implies that I'm not armed this time, but next time I will be and watch out! Why weren't those people carrying those same signs in Washington D.C. arrested? Protesting is one thing. Threats are another ball game altogether.

3. Where do people find the time to keep up with all the networking sites? About the most I can manage is to post my "status" or make a comment, then I'm off doing something else. Apparently some people go every one of their friends' pages to check them out and make comments.

4. We are taking a trip to California in November...3 months from now. I purchased our airline tickets over a month ago. Last week, I received an email that our departing flight time had been changed. I suppose they are already expecting delays and letting us know ahead of time. The lack of planning on their part makes me uncomfortable.

5. I don’t understand how anyone can take Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck seriously or believe anything either of them says. They are both just irrational, uninformed white guys who desperately rant to seek attention instead of trying to educate or inform.

I think I've ranted enough today, too.