Everyone be careful with Fireworks out there.
Old What’s Her Face went to visit her brother for a few days. I’ll be keeping the dogs company during the neighborhood fireworks, and probably downing a beer or two.
Tag Archives: fireworks
$2,446.96
It’s been a quiet week online for me. The best I could manage in most cases was to hit the like button on some blog posts. I’m trying to post something tonight, but even that is half-hearted.
It all started about 12 days ago. Our female bulldog, Frankie, started throwing up when she drank water. There were no other symptoms, including those of dehydration. She played hard, and drank too much. It happens, and I’ve never owned a dog that didn’t do this a couple of times.
Ten days later this was still going on, and we needed to have the vet check her out. There were a couple of timing problems here, one of which involved payday not happening until today.
The other issue is my work sent me to Moscow, Idaho during the week. This is a long way from home, and involved an overnight stay.
Nothing improved for Frankie, and our vet said he would see her, and we could pay him today. He did an x-ray, and there was something…
No idea what it might be, so another kind of x-rays were ordered. It could have been an ulcer, a tumor, or any number of things.
The barium helped reveal an object in her stomach and throat. He said it looked fibrous, like a sock or something. There was a half day period where the vet thought it might pass, but the clock was against us here.
Our vet doesn’t work Fridays, but he did for us. There are other doctors in the office, and they are all good. Frankie is his patient, and we appreciate him for this. Our most recent update involved the object moving, but not as much as he thought it should. He really didn’t want to do surgery, and gave us the choice.
We’ve been to the emergency vet several times. These people are good, but would not necessarily have the x-rays and diagnoses if we went there in the middle of the night. We reluctantly chose to put her through the surgery.
That turned out to be the right choice. The object was skinny, long, plastic, and pointed. He could not identify it, and we did not get to see it. This would not have passed, and could have led to an emergency situation. (Almost certainly.)
She’s home now, groggy as hell. There is a square shaved on her back from an epidural they gave her. She has a mountain of pills we have to give her too, and a restricted diet.
This is not her first experience with swallowing something, and we have to watch her like a hawk.
I’m not above a bit of speculation, so here goes. If you can imagine her chewing something up first, it sounds to me like it was a piece of someone’s fireworks. These aren’t just for the 4th of July around here. People set off fireworks all year long, and every summer night there are various small pops, and at least a few big sky shells going off.
More than once, I’ve picked up the residue from my yard. If I were to speculate further, I’m not able to cruise the yard before going to work. It’s dark outside. I think there was something in the yard, and she found it before one of us could get to it during the daylight.
I’ll never know for sure, but that’s my best guess.
I usually approach my weekends with a plan, and sometimes a task list. This weekend, I’m kind of dialing it in. I have a post to schedule for a friend, and am waiting for some interview data to come back. Don’t have a plan beyond that.
Oh, “Hey buddy, want to buy a book. I’m trying to raise $2446.96.”
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Let’ try this again
I have to admit last July Fourth was one of the worst days of my adult life. To start off, I ran out this cute Lisa Burton poster. I expected some cool comments, but the afternoon failed in the worst way. It still haunts me to this day.
I want to leave all that behind. No more talking about it, no more dwelling upon it.
We’re going to try it again. Have a great Fourth of July, and be careful with those fireworks.
It’s still a cool poster.
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Let’s all celebrate High Treason
Back in 1776, a group of British subjects, men of stature and position, signed a document that proved conclusively they were committing high treason. Today we would call it Exhibit Number One at their hanging.
Their chances of success weren’t all that good, England held the most powerful military on Earth, and had all the muscle they needed to crush these rebels like grapes.
More signatures were added later, but they all walked in knowing what the stakes were. I find this line to be almost chilling, but very few take the time to interpret what it’s actually saying: “… with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
They weren’t kidding either. The penalty for this kind of treason was death. These were educated men, with something to lose, but they consciously chose to move ahead.
Americans are not held in high regard these days, even within our own borders. Still, the ramifications of the Declaration of Independence circled the globe and changed the course of history forever. Even the British monarch no longer holds the kind of power held in 1776. I think those ideals in the document are something we can all still support.
Happy Fourth of July from Entertaining Stories. You guys be careful with fireworks out there now.
Still reading? You really should go have a beer and a hotdog. As a late addition I find that Jefferson should have used an Oxford comma. I also find it interesting that he wrote honor, as opposed to honour. It was written by a British subject at the time. Finally, knowing the military odds, I think divine Providence must have played a role in the outcome.
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Yesterday
When I drove to work yesterday, the Boise foothills were on fire. This kind of thing seems to happen fairly regularly, and it usually makes for a smoky day.
As I got close to the office I saw open flames and they were right on the edge of town. It was about a half mile or less from my office. When I pulled into the parking lot, I lost view of the Flames because of the trees. This might not mean much to you, but it indicates a fire right at the base of the foothills. Authorities suspect illegal fireworks. Happy Fourth of July!
That isn't flame, it's sunrise. I've heard reports that one home was lost, and that two homes were actually lost. Either way, that's too damned close.
This is what Tablerock looked like after work from +/- the same spot.
Be careful outdoors this summer. Things are all dried up now, and campfires, cigarettes, fireworks, and even a dragging chain on an RV can cause this.
Otto decided to get up at 3:00 again. He's been pretty good for a week, but today he's an early bird. I've been up since then, and might as well post this now.
My wife is taking Otto to Nevada to show him to family this weekend. I'm staying behind and spraying trees in the back yard. It's best if a little puppy isn't around for a day or two for that.
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Entertaining Stories 