New week - weekly chat, 8-11-14

A good friend called last night and one of her aussies (Neiko's gf Sadie) has lymphoma. She is going to put her down this morning. Very sad :( I wish I could see her one last time. This is one of the 3 aussies that my 3 run around with at the hunting Ranch and on hikes. Poor girl. She just had her leg operated on too. What a rough year for her.

The flooding in Detroit is pretty nuts. I will probably have to go inspect the damage this Fri or over the weekend once they get their ducks in a row. The governor has to declare an emergency before I get involved though so we will see.

I'm sorry for your friend, Julie. Run free Sadie.

I thought Snyder declared states of emergency in Warren and areas of Wayne county. Maybe that's not where you're going specifically.

Slept good last night, temps cooled down, so the bike ride to work was a little chilly this morning. Not August weather at all.

Hopefully Belle hadn't puked again and Nose Work class was a little more interesting.

Rest in peace Lauren Bacall.

Julie I'm so sorry to hear about Sadie.  (((hugs)))

I slept good too last night despite dreaming of flood waters and rescuing dogs from the water. I guess watching the flooding in Detroit must have caused that dream.

Nose Work class was great last night. What a difference it made to have Belle away from all the barking dogs when she was waiting her turn.  The brisket helped too. :) No more puking from Belle. :)

We had a nice storm last night. I wish it hadn't been when I was driving home from class. One of the roads I took is very dark and narrow and curvy. I was white knuckle driving on that part.  

I'm so sorry about Sadie.  Run free girl.

I slept really well last night as well, and if I had a dream, as per usual, I can't recall it.

Not sure why, but both days this week I've gotten home from PT feeling like I need a nap.  And quite sore.  You'd think the 30 minutes of icing would wake me right up......

Absolutely pouring here.  May need to start on the Ark.

Very cool night for us (over a 30 degree drop in temps), so sleeping was very comfortable.  However, with houseguests here, we got to bed much too late, so I feel like a zombie right now.

Julie, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's dog.  Run free, Miss Sadie.

We just found out that DH's niece's dog had to be euthanized rather unexpectedly.  He suddenly became very lethargic, not eating.  They suspected he ingested something toxic, but found nothing in blood tests, etc.  Long story short, he had severe pneumonia, and despite 2 or 3 days of "ICU" care at the vet's, they determined he wouldn't recover and put him down.  They're heartbroken, and baffled -- Ollie was only 6 and in perfect health.  Their Jack Russel has chronic health problems, so it was her they expected to lose young.  I don't know how pneumonia becomes so life-threatening without some early symptoms.  He must've aspirated on something, but didn't present any coughing, I guess.  

Glad the nose work class went better last night, Jackie.  

Today is our monthly committee meeting at my favorite pasta place for lunch.  It's the highlight of my week!!

I hope you had a nice lunch Tracy.  I'm so sorry to hear about your hubby's niece's dog.

I spent over an hour doing an online application for my coworker's health insurance. Our company group coverage is being cancelled. That's a long boring story. Anyway, after finally being able to finish the app, I got an error message. I called customer service to give them the error code and was on hold for 32 minutes. When I finally spoke to a customer service rep, she briefly listened and then said she had to transfer my call to the right department. OK. I'm still keeping my cool. I wait another 16 minutes on hold and then I get disconnected. Sigh.  

I have never heard of a dog dying of pneumonia. I wonder if it's very common?

Tina, the gov'r just declared the emergency this afternoon. Before today the mayors of those towns you mentioned declared their own emergencies. Local declarations don't get me involved just governor and presidential declarations. I was talking to someone today who was stranded on the lodge for 12 hours Monday night. I guess the police made everyone just park their cars because every road was flooded, there was no place to send folks. I can't even imagine being stranded in my car for that long. Forget that. I would have walked home!

I just read Sandra's news about Honey :-(  Run free, Honey, Sadie and Tracy's hubby's niece's dog. It seems it was a sad day today here and a busy day at the Bridge.

Julie, I can't imagine the flooding--we got less than an inch right here (but lots of wind), but other towns nearby got several inches and there was lots of flooding. But, none like you're dealing with!

Jackie, what a nightmare with insurance! I hope the rest of the week goes better.

Just stopping in to say hi. Another day another round of insurance fun.  

I had my first home-grown sandwich sized red tomato for lunch and it was delish!

Today was the second day that I saw the same guy in the same car run a stop sign at the same time at the intersection very near to my house. It was in the morning and yesterday I thought he may not have seen the sign because of where the sun is on the horizon. Today I had my doubts since he looked to the right before he blew through the intersection. It's a 4-way stop in front of the local high school and there are frequent accidents. With school starting in a few weeks, it's a sure recipe for disaster.

Missing a stop sign once can be chalked up to the random "space out" we've all probably experienced once in our driving lives.  Missing the same sign two days in a row seems like something else.  Yikes.

Mmmmmm . . . fresh garden tomatoes!  A couple days ago we had lunch at this horrible place with some of DH's family (it's like a Denny's).  I got a BLT, but it turned out to be just a BL because the tomato was nearly white, it was so unripe.  I left it on my plate.

Good luck with the insurance fiasco, Jackie.  I hate that kind of time wasted on a phone call!

I'm sure this has been on FB, but I just saw it this morning.  It's so true.  I love the photo; I'd like to have this in a print to hang in my office or home somewhere.

I like that photo and the message, Tracy.  I read a very interesting blog post or article the other day and in it the author referred to dogs as our hostages. It's true. We control every aspect of their lives. In another book by Scott and Fuller, they refer to dogs as the equivalent of slaves.  

@JackieG

We control every aspect of their lives. In another book by Scott and Fuller, they refer to dogs as the equivalent of slaves.  

That's true, actually.  They are completely dependent on us and have no choice about the kind of treatment they receive (other than to run away, I suppose).  When you think about them in terms of being hostages or slaves, it really is amazing how most of them form such positive relationships with humans.

I just saw a news blurb that Robin Williams' widow gave a statement about how his sobriety was intact at the time of his death, that he was dealing with depression, anxiety, and the early stages of Parkinson's disease.  It's really been sad this week seeing and hearing the different stories about him.  I didn't realize he did so many shows for the troops overseas, not to mention all his work for St. Jude's.  He was so generous with his time and talent.

I can almost understand his suicide if he was dealing with Parkinsons.  My oldest sister has dealt with this cruel condition since 2001.  This year she has started dealing with severe and debilitating pain.  She has improved somewhat so that she is no longer using a wheelchair, but until February, at 70, she was still working 3-4 days per week as the business manager, advertising manager for a busy eye center.  She has gone through absolute hell with this condition this year and, while a fighter, I suspect that there were times she almost didn't have the energy to fight.

For Robin Williams to take his own life, and in the manner that he did, he must have been in such torment that he simply saw no reason to go on.

God Bless him and his family.

If dogs are akin to slaves, I've gotta say that idogs are most likely the best fed, loved and nurtured "slaves" in the universe!  This, as I look at Theo hogging the sofa.

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I heard Missy hissing and growling at Oscar. He has been very careful to give her a wide berth and doesn't respond to her posturing. The next thing I knew, they both came tearing out of the spare bedroom, Oscar in front, with Missy hot on his heels. She was poofed out as much as she could be and screaming at him. I yelled "Hey, cut it out". and the pursuit ended. Missy was pissed and Oscar was looking for a place to hide. Too funny, seeing a 15lb cat being run down by little 6lb Missy.