4641

Been there man. Someone I knew was asking if I heard about the guy getting killed by the Salvation Army truck.

I had, and made a joke about the irony, the Salvation Army, responsible for saving people, is now just eliminating the homeless as a cost cutting measure.

Then she told me it was her best friend from high school who got killed.

Oops.

Point being, you were just making a joke intended to lighten a situation. I’m not sure that’s ever the wrong thing really, and even if it is, you had no way of knowing. Don’t feel bad.

4642

Moved myself back to Dallas to save money. Not really fun.

— Alan

4643

I’ve been informed by the girlfriend that I can’t buy the book before my birthday.

4644

Got a puppy on Friday. Ten week old Shih Tzu, CKC registered and all that jazz. He’s been great so far, very few accidents inside the house, taken to the crate without a lot of fuss but damn, I didn’t realize it would be this much work! I knew it would be a lot of work but still wasn’t prepared for this; his saving grace is that he sleeps so much!

4645

Congrats! Shih-Tzus are great little dogs, but they need a lot of grooming to keep their hair un-knotted, and you have to watch out for potential back problems, especially since they love to romp and jump around so much. OTOH, they’re not huge shedders and have fine hair instead of fur, so they’re pretty good for allergy sufferers.

4646

So, in keeping with the theme of much of the thread, my mother-in-practice-if-not-in-law, who has terminal cancer, has been admitted to the hospital this evening. This is a prelude to her hopefully being admitted into hospice. She had fallen and couldn’t get up (and I had to carry her, joking with the father-in-whatever that, “Hey, on the bright side, she’s put on some weight!”) a week and a half ago; yesterday, she fell a couple more times. They had to get an ambulance to help her down the stairs.

sigh

4647

My Shih Tzu has a permanent puppy cut and therefore doesn’t require much grooming, although he does need a bath every week. My yard is paradise for him, but he brings too much of it into the house if he has long hair. Mine is almost two years old and he’s been awesome to own. So funny!!

4648

So, this coming Sunday I will be performing Improv down at a local cafe with a new improv group that I have joined.

Should be fun to get back in the game.

4649

Can’t wait to see the iPhone video on youtube.

4650

Hang in there Rimbo. My advice: keep sharing the sense of humor as long as you can.

-xtien

4651

Yeah. Sorry to hear that, man. For her sake, though, if there really is no hope for improvement, I hope she does get into hospice.

I deal with the one around here on an infrequent-yet-regular basis, and they’re absolutely wonderful. Some of our clients have lived out their days in hospice, while others (though far fewer) have improved and gone home, but whatever the length of their stay, they’ve all been treated with kindness and compassion and have been as comfortable as can be. Well, as comfortable as legally can be, anyway.

On a completely unrelated note, I stopped into one of the coffee shops downtown tonight, while I was waiting for a takeout order from the Indian restaurant down the block. While I sat at the counter nursing my coffee, one of the other customers walked up to the register to settle his tab.

At first I thought he was a dwarf (or whatever we’re calling the short-of-stature), standing on the stools to see over the counter, as his waist was practically at [my] shoulder height. Then I thought he was a giant, because when he walked away he loomed over seven feet tall. But when he reached the door the true answer became clear: He was wearing Poweriser stilts.

4652

Thanks, Christien!

(Edit: You too, Omniscia.)

It’s easier for me than it is for her.

4653

They’re great little dogs, they really are. I’ve had two, one of 'em just found in the yard. Very friendly, very smart. Stubborn, though! When you think he’s not learning, that’s more a case of not wanting to change his habits yet. Positive reinforcement works great with them.

Case in point, even during storms which scare the hell out of him or when we have to shut him inside, ours will NOT pee inside the house. Not on paper, not by the dog door like the others are perfectly fine with. He’ll wait as long as he can, then bark at the door or run by us and bark by the patio door to let us know he needs to go out, and as soon as you grab the leash he plops down and waits patiently.

Keep plenty of toys around too, I suggest. I’ve had a lazy one and a permapuppy, but both are just on when they want to play, and they’re STRONG. When we were pulling up carpet to install pergo, one learned what we were doing and decided to help. That little guy would grab the a loose corner and yank the carpet right up as well as we did.

4654

I just found out that I owe the IRS a little over 4k! Ummm…yay? I was confused about the status of my wife’s disability payments because I thought insurance payments weren’t taxable. I was wrong. So, for the record, if you are on disability, you need to check to see if the employer paid the insurance. If they did, you owe taxes on the payments. Lesson learned!

4655

Oh shit… correction, she’s going to a rehab center. Not hospice. they seem to think she has longer than that to live. Ok, so still stressful, still not great, but not as bad as I thought. Whew

4656

You should post pictures in the Pet pictures thread!

4657

Our four year old black cat is turning vaguely ginger in places. We think it is copying our siamese and getting points.

Even the vet looked pretty astonished last week when we innoculated them.

4658

Today is Lilith Mae King’s first birthday. I could not be more proud.

4659

Hope the Mother in Practice gets better soon, Rimbo.

I finally moved into my new place and love my new neighborhood, the apartment, and everything. Except for the light in the place. It’s really dark in my room and the living room. :( If I can’t swap into the one room that gets good light, any tips on how to get that feeling of sunlight?

Yay for moving on, though!

4660

I had a cat who went from looking mostly like a red-point siamese to mostly like an orange tabby over the course of a few years. He kept the yap though.