JULY THREAD START

Had to log in again and don't know why. Where are the fires that you are seeing the smoke from Doug. I know they have some out in Saskatchewan as I have cousins in Regina and they are getting the smoke from fires north of them. I know there are often fires in North Western Ontario. Have driven through some huge burn areas up there.

Hope everyone is having a better 4th of July than we are. Fireworks have been going off all freaking day and our poor dogs are exhausted. Have the TV blaring at the moment, as there are some loud ones going off now. We get it from all sides. Live near Lake Ontario and a lot of people at their cottages have them, some of the marinas set them off, have a Yogi Bear campground just up the river a bit, and I think they are setting them off, as well as every other Tom, *** and Harry in the neighborhood. They started in June getting ready for the 4th. Now they'll probably continue for another week.

Well, ours was wet and chilly most of the day.  I had HOPED it would rain all night so that the idiots didn't start again with the fireworks, but no such luck.  Sporadically for the past couple weeks we've been treated to the M80's and assorted other stuff....Friday night it was non-stop and then of course, again last nite.  They took a short break while the "real" fireworks were going off at the ball park, quite near us, but then started right up again.  Oddly, at one point I said that the fireworks sounded like gun shots.....only to find out that there was a shooting last night that left one person dead, two treated and released and another two in the hospital with life threatening injuries.....right about the time I mentioned gunshots.  Scarey.

So nice to see others actually ON the forum.....it's just gotten WAYYYYY to quiet here.

We get an "S" shaped jet stream coming in from the left coast. We see smoke from California once in a while, parts of Canada once in a while. If the Yellowstone caldera ever blows, we will probably get ashfall from that. Great sunsets now, with the dust in the air.

My little boy is growing up. A dog at the dog park was bullying him a bit, and started to growl and snap at him. Sky snarled and snapped back until the other dog backed off. Today, the two were playing like old buddies. Now if he would just stop- staring into their eyes when he meets new dogs.

We get two of the grandkids for a few days. My grandson loves dogs, but his father doesn't. I expect Sky to get a real work out. Last time he was here, Charley wore him out with a retrieving dummy.

We got a letter from the bank saying that we own our house. The city says we own a bunch for road work, but our monthly outgo just decreased. One of my previous employers sent a note asking what I want to do with my retirement package. I thought I had taken it all when I left, but apparently not. I wont argue with them about it. It looks to be enough for a new truck, or a new boat, or (wifes idea) a new basement. I was worried about retirement finances, but after not working for 6 months, our checking balance is increasing. This may work.

So Doug it sounds like the smoke could be coming from anywhere up on the other side of the border. Yes dust and things in the air do make for beautiful sunsets. Drove to the lake last night to see a beautiful sunset over the water. It's only about a 3 minute drive from our place.

What a nice surprise from a previous employer.

Glenda that is very scary about the gun shots and someone getting killed.

Yes it is getting very quiet around here. I try to pop in now and again.

Having ultra sound done on our dog Gus tomorrow. Don't think I mentioned this yet. Crossing my fingers it is nothing. He's been having red and white blood cells showing up in his urine, even after being on antibiotics. He is not showing any signs of pain from it and I find that really odd. The only reason I checked it was because I saw a very, very small bit of blood in a drip on the floor. Had seen a little bit of blood on the top of his back foot and then saw the drip on the floor. This only happened once but still thought it best to check it. He was showing red and white blood cells and so we put him on antibiotics. Had it checked twice after the antibiotics and it is still showing up. We did a blood work up and he is also showing that he was exposed to lyme disease. My fault, for not using the preventative early enough in the spring, I guess.  He wasn't due for his lyme test until the fall but, since we were drawing blood, decided we should test that now as well and glad we did. I am now switching to the collars they've come out with. As far as anything else the blood looked okay. Physical exam by vet was not showing anything obvious. We also decided to do an xray. It looks like there is possibly something going on with the prostate, but can't be sure from xray ,and so that's why the ultra sound.  He is now on another anti biotic for the lyme disease. The vet said this is also a good anti biotic for the other problem as well. Not the anti biotic he was originally on. Hopefully this will do the trick for everything and  the ultra sound will be clear. He's 11 yrs old so there is the fear of cancer at this point.

Wierd.  None of my older emails for this thread  would make the link work!  I posted in June, as did Ginger.  Her SIL, a cancer survivor is in surgery now to remove a lump in her lung and prayers are needed.

Sometime late yesterday afternoon or early evening, my sis and her hubby were returning from an amusement park outing with the grandchildren (who stayed at the park, thankfully).  I have absolutely no details other than that they were on the highway, so traveling at a higher speed, and something happened and the truck ended up rolling several times.  A pretty good size, sturdy truck, a new Toyota truck, extended cab with a cap which sounds like it's totaled.  Greg is physically ok, but Sis is undergoing surgery soon, or may have already, to repair "2 or 3" fractured vertebrae in her neck.  Prayers would be apppreciated for Sharon for a good outcome and a very rapid recovery.  Calming vibes to the rest of the family would be appreciated too.

Greg does not do well when something goes wrong with Sis, so I'm betting he's a complete and total mess right about now.  Sis, has MS and has basically spent many, many years fighting the genetic "yucks" in our family, very sucessfully too.  She is a runner, biker and puts her physical health mountains above what most of us do.  So, her excellent physical condition will be a plus, however, the habits that keep her healthy are soooo totally ingrained that  they will make recovery and rehab really tough for her.

On a happy note.....saw the surgeon today who did my throat, and the path report was completely and totally BENIGN!  Whew!

Saw this on June so I will respond here too.  Sorry about your sis and you BIL, hope they are doing ok.  Glad to hear your path was so great!! Can you talk now?  

Have a great day all....

Hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th. We're in such a heat wave here that I didn't spend much time outdoors. Even Ruby wasn't keen on lying in her usual favorite sunny spots in the yard. She kept coming inside to cool off in the A/C. We filled her little blue kiddie pool, but other than standing in it a few times and taking a drink from it, she didn't lounge in it. DH spent lots of time sitting in it, however! She did okay with the fireworks -- a few barks when they started, but then she settled down on the couch with DH. Yay! Progress!

I sure wish you could send some of your rain our way, Glenda. Great news about your polyps being benign! I'm sure you were worried. I hope your sister is going to be okay. As soon as I read the word "sister" in your post, I wondered if it was the one who has MS. I sure hope her strong commitment to healthy lifestyle choices up until now really aids in her recovery.

Ginger, I'm very sorry to hear your SIL is having a cancer scare. Fingers crossed they don't find anything malignant during the surgery.

We've been sad for a few days. Our neighbors (the man is the gourmet cook and master gardener, and he shares both those talents with us regularly) -- their mini-Schnauzer was the first dog we met when we moved to the neighborhood. When we were between dogs, he was at our house all the time, we baby-sat him very often, and he thought our yard and house were an extension of his own. Ruby was too rough for him (he was 15), so he didn't come in our yard after we adopted her, but we always got our cuddle time in when we went over there to visit. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few weeks ago. He began to fail very rapidly last week, and they decided to euthanize him Thursday. They're heartbroken, of course (they are retired and their only grandchild lives far away, so he was like their baby). We're very upset, too - we loved him almost like he was our own. He was such a dapper little guy. Tonka really liked him, so I'm imagining them hanging out together again. Run free, sweet Becker.

Lazy day. And yes, he allows us on the furniture. About 3 inches of rain over night. The patio drain plugged up, so I had to wade through about 3 inches of water to clear it. Heavy haze (smoke) all day, but it seems to be clearing now. I think the next group of mosquitos hatched. Day light is okay, but after dark, you take your life in your hands if you leave the house.

Licensed the canoe again. We haven't used it for a few years, and I thought the process would get ugly. But it's done online, and you print a temp license to use while the real one is mailed. I rigged a carrier for the truck, so I should be all set, as soon as I get an anchor. I have caught large bass from the canoe, and without an anchor, you get dragged all over the lake. Kind of fun, actually.

Glenda-glad to hear about your throat. Sorry about your sister.

Lymes Disease is spreading every where now. Worries me to take Sky into the deep grass, even with preventers and vac. I also spray him and me with Deep Woods before wading in.

I once had three sisters.  One died in 1995.  Sis and I are closest in age and have always been close in every other way.  My oldest sister has more or less always resented the "baby" of the family, and she and I rarely have any interactions.  So yeah, its rare for me to talk about anyone other than Sharon.  

She is doing well.  They repaired fractures to the cervical vertebrae 5 & 6 and that went extremely well.  My niece is most likely completely overwhelmed.....she has 3 children, a husband out of town, and is much closer to the hospital than is her younger brother.  My nephew, who doesn't know his crazy old aunty well at all (I never lived in the same state when he was a child) forgot to call me post op!!!!  God bless my nieces friend who is staying with her girls for telling me everything that she knew.  By the time I called her, I was getting pretty frantic!

I found the story in the local paper there online.  Seems that my brother in law missed a stop light, hit a van, both vehicles rolled and people in both had to be "extracted"  by the fire dept.  The highway they were are is one of those more or less rural divided ones, so luckily their speed wasn't as high as had they been on the interstate.  I'll tell ya, being the one almost 1000 miles away is sheer hades!

Fingers crossed that the ultrasound was clear!

Ginger, yes, I can talk a bit, but I sound kind of like an old wrought iron gate with VERY rusty hinges!  It gets a tiny bit better every day, so hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll no longer sound so wierd!  Is there any word yet on your SIL?  Sending up lots of prayers for her.

LOL at baddog in another thread looking for help for a newbie.  Guess I'll have to break down and find a place for a laptop on the first floor so I don't have to constantly run upstairs to post.  Or.......they could just fix whatever is wrong so that we can posts from our phones......

Thank you to everyone that replied to the other thread about crate training, to keep this community going and hence funded we need to gain more members and create more conversations.  By responding to new posters you are all doing your bit to help the site thrive again.

My son broke his Audi.  This was a high performance 4 door German car.  8 cylinder 4 wheel drive.  You strapped it on.  Spring and summer in MN are also called 'construction season" as we tend to tear up our roads and rebuild them whenever the snow is gone.  Asphalt overlay on a concrete base.  The asphalt was removed.  The manholes were supposed to have ramps and/or cones marking them.  This one had neither, as shown in sons photos of the incident.   Son didn't see it and was hemmed in by traffic.  Car hit the manhole, which did not move.   Front suspension destroyed, tires blown, wheels bent, transmission shredded.  Tranny alone is about $9000 to repair.  Car is totaled, son is not hurt.  Now he is thinking about getting his RX7  with the custom engine and custom body panels running again.  This car has about 2" ground clearance and more power than an F18.  Just what you need for a 2 mile drive to work.

Update on my SIL, surgery went well, better than expected. She was moved out of ICU and into a regular room yesterday.  Morphine removed now on pain pills by mouth.  Found out today she is about 1 week ahead of recovery schedule and may go home on Friday!  This is awesome news.

Doug I love the pic of the "dog bed" :)  

Tracy Hugs for you and your neighbor,  Run free Becker

Have lots more to share but the flooding rain in Arkansas has created lots of work for us at the office.  Gotta run... have a great day!  If you are in the path of the rain get your  waders out.

I'm sorry your son broke his car,  THank heavens he's ok.

Great news about your sister in law, Ginger!

Acccording to my niece, Sis not  only frauctured C5&6 but also ruptured the disk between them.  She has multiple fractured ribs and fractures to several "non-supporting" bones in her back.  BIL also has several fractured ribs.  Sis is in a great deal of pain and can't  take more than shallow breaths so is still on oxygen.  Continued prayers would be appreciated.

Glenda I don't think you have told us what phone you are using, if you can do that we may be able to provide feedback, why don't you post a question in the Community Help Center ?