As if dealing with the loss of our family pet didn't cause enough stress in my life, I'm also dealing with the loss of my computer. It decided to crash and, of course, I didn't have everything backed up. My husband always comes to the rescue and the first thing he asks is if I've backed up my stuff. Huh? Really? Isn't that something you do for me? I know you've told me a hundred times. You can always fix it though. Not this time. Boo hoo. Anyway we picked up a new one, sans the monitor since I already have one. Guess who got to talk to the nice folks in India for close to three hours today. Yep, it was me. The first time it was the HP computer. When everything they tried to get me to do didn't work, I got them to send me recovery disks instead of having to create my own. I think my husband it teaching me the pain of computer ownership. Later in the day I needed to talk to Microsoft because it wasn't recognizing the software I was trying to reload. The last guy I spoke to was great. We became buds during our 90 minutes together. It was pretty cool actually. I gave him the ability to take over my computer, so I could see what he was doing on my screen while he was doing it. It made me feel pretty good because I had done a lot of what he was doing. To make a 90 minute story short, they had to issue me a new product number and reregister it. While I was loading and unloading disks, we chatted about the Oscar winning movie "Slumdog Millionnaire." I really liked this movie and he did, too. It's not an upbeat fun movie like it looks on the previews, it is a quite depressing and violent film and it highlights the horiffic slum conditions in Mumbai. The characters were not professional actors and so it only goes to show that you don't have to be Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie to be a star. Check it out.
Now, I have to remove my old hard drive and get the info off of it. I think this sounds like a great technology assignment for my homeschooled daughter and her dad!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
We'll Miss you Norm!
Norm lost his battle with cancer yesterday. It was just a short month after his very successful surgery. Everyone thought we'd have three-six months more with the big guy but that wasn't in the plan for him.
We was a great dog and smart! One of the tricks I taught him was math. He could add, subtract, and multiply. I suppose he could divide, but I didn't try that out. I remember when Monica was in first grade, I brought him to her classroom and showed the kids how he could add. When I asked him what 1 plus 1 is he would bark twice. They loved it! There's always a smart cookie in class and this was no exception. One of the kids wanted to make up their own problem to make sure it wasn't a trick. I think they gave him something like, how much is a bizillion time a hundred billion. I told them to give him a problem that he could finish in the time we had in class, so he got something more reasonable like 3 + 2. Again, he performed. To this day, I wonder if some of the kids in that class think he really knew math!
We have a lot of great memories of Norm. He was the dog that everyone loved. He wasn't always like that, however. He was a piece of work in his early years. I remember many times, when Norm was such a pain that it almost required marriage counseling for my husband and me. Who doesn't at least consider the Labrador when choosing a dog for the family, right? And better yet, someone at work had a dog who just delivered a litter of purebred pups. And best of all, they were giving them away since it wasn't a planned litter and the bitch (it seems almost awkward to use this word as it was intended ha..ha) hadn't had her hips certified. We'll take him.
So cute at 8 weeks old. Not so cute when they think they run the family. Norm was actually a bit aggressive at first. Clean my ears, yeah right. Clip my nails, no thanks. Take my temperature at the vets, not on my best day. What happened to the adorable little puppy and reputation that all Labs are wonderful pets?
Well, like any relationship, we had some kinks to work out and after some boot camp, live in training, he came back a different dog. He knew who was in charge (most of the time), and became the gentle dog those of you who have met him, know that he is. He was a great entertainer for all and a loyal, loving, and cherished pet.
We'll miss you, Norm!
We was a great dog and smart! One of the tricks I taught him was math. He could add, subtract, and multiply. I suppose he could divide, but I didn't try that out. I remember when Monica was in first grade, I brought him to her classroom and showed the kids how he could add. When I asked him what 1 plus 1 is he would bark twice. They loved it! There's always a smart cookie in class and this was no exception. One of the kids wanted to make up their own problem to make sure it wasn't a trick. I think they gave him something like, how much is a bizillion time a hundred billion. I told them to give him a problem that he could finish in the time we had in class, so he got something more reasonable like 3 + 2. Again, he performed. To this day, I wonder if some of the kids in that class think he really knew math!
We have a lot of great memories of Norm. He was the dog that everyone loved. He wasn't always like that, however. He was a piece of work in his early years. I remember many times, when Norm was such a pain that it almost required marriage counseling for my husband and me. Who doesn't at least consider the Labrador when choosing a dog for the family, right? And better yet, someone at work had a dog who just delivered a litter of purebred pups. And best of all, they were giving them away since it wasn't a planned litter and the bitch (it seems almost awkward to use this word as it was intended ha..ha) hadn't had her hips certified. We'll take him.
So cute at 8 weeks old. Not so cute when they think they run the family. Norm was actually a bit aggressive at first. Clean my ears, yeah right. Clip my nails, no thanks. Take my temperature at the vets, not on my best day. What happened to the adorable little puppy and reputation that all Labs are wonderful pets?
Well, like any relationship, we had some kinks to work out and after some boot camp, live in training, he came back a different dog. He knew who was in charge (most of the time), and became the gentle dog those of you who have met him, know that he is. He was a great entertainer for all and a loyal, loving, and cherished pet.
We'll miss you, Norm!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pet Photos
Norm
When Billy is home, this is his usual position. He only comes around to eat and sleep. Otherwise he roams the neighborhood hunting.
This is Cinder aka angry kitty. She has something to say about everything. She's so annoying she's lovable.
When Billy is home, this is his usual position. He only comes around to eat and sleep. Otherwise he roams the neighborhood hunting.
This is Cinder aka angry kitty. She has something to say about everything. She's so annoying she's lovable.
Norm
We have a black lab named Norm. He's ten years old. A few weeks ago he wasn't feeling well and I took him to the vet only to discover that he had something bothering his abdomen. The vet took an xray saw that his spleen was enlarged and then sent us for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a large cyst that was most likely cancerous. It happened so fast and I needed to make a decision within a few hours whether he would undergo surgery to remove the spleen or be put down. Well, my vet felt good about doing surgery since all of his other organs were clear. If it turned out to be cancer, she gave him three-six months before it came back. Surgery was our choice since it was pretty simple and we just weren't ready to say goodby to this great dog. Surgery went great, he was back to normal just a couple of days later. He even wore his ridiculous Elizabethan collar without complaint!
We've had two scares since the surgery. One day he's great, the next day we thought he was going to visit his maker. For a treat we gave him a rawhide bone (which we never do) and it did not agree with him. He lay lethargic and glossy-eyed for the entire day. The next morning, he was feeling himself again! Whew. No more rawhide. Then, just yesterday he was standing next to me and I was petting him and his back legs collapsed and down he went. Here we go again. We made him comfortable and offered him food and water. Water yes, food no. I told my son to grill him up a burger. He found his appetite for that alright! He continued to be very stiff and had sad eyes. But today is a new day! He is chasing his toy and our other dog and you'd never know anything was wrong with him. Hmmm, perhaps we was holding out for the sirloin burger!
I told him that three weeks post surgery was not long enough to justify the cost of his surgery and he was going to need to hang in there for a few months anyway. He just looked at me, kind of like everyone else in the family does when I make stupid comments. Here's a picture of Normie and Skittles.
We've had two scares since the surgery. One day he's great, the next day we thought he was going to visit his maker. For a treat we gave him a rawhide bone (which we never do) and it did not agree with him. He lay lethargic and glossy-eyed for the entire day. The next morning, he was feeling himself again! Whew. No more rawhide. Then, just yesterday he was standing next to me and I was petting him and his back legs collapsed and down he went. Here we go again. We made him comfortable and offered him food and water. Water yes, food no. I told my son to grill him up a burger. He found his appetite for that alright! He continued to be very stiff and had sad eyes. But today is a new day! He is chasing his toy and our other dog and you'd never know anything was wrong with him. Hmmm, perhaps we was holding out for the sirloin burger!
I told him that three weeks post surgery was not long enough to justify the cost of his surgery and he was going to need to hang in there for a few months anyway. He just looked at me, kind of like everyone else in the family does when I make stupid comments. Here's a picture of Normie and Skittles.
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