A Queer Mobile

Christmas Run to Stuart

We joined John's sibs in Stuart, IA (John's hometown) on Christmas morning. Because of our sick puppies we didn't journey over on Christmas Eve. We set out early on Christmas morning listening to two marvelous CDs: A John Waters Christmas, and the Kinsey Sicks sing Oy Vey in a Manger. We rolled in about 9:30 still giggling from the Kinsey Sicks's 'God Bless Ye Femmy Lesbians' (God bless ye femmy lesbians. May good taste you display. You don't give up your fashion choices just because you're gay...).  I had a great time and ate far too much stuff (not to mention the Christmas cookies we brought home).

The Loot

So here's the loot from Christmas! John and I almost always buy art for each other. He pointed out a picture of this Chinese mask in a catalog about five months ago - so I ordered it for him. He was delighted. It's entitled 'Guardian Mask' by the noted Chinese artist Kang Dianchen (b. 1940, Beijing). Inspired by traditional Chinese theatrical masks,  he hand-carves and paints unique expressions on each wooden mask.

Last February he and I walked around one of our favorite galleries. I pointed out this woodcut that I loved of the Flying Monkeys from the Wizard of Oz aloft on tricycles. It's called 'Surveillance', and I loved it. (I'm sorry about the picture quality; the light's been so dim here for the past few days that I had to use flash in an unfortunate way.)

Ki and Soph are convalescing

Ki's on the floor around the corner snoring away. He came home on Monday and I was glad to have him back. Sophie came home yesterday afternoon from her bout with the vet; she's upstairs konked out next to John while he naps.

Snowshoeing the countryside

Just what I needed to lift my spirits - John and I clamped on our new snowshoes and tramped around the countryside this morning. Having questionable knees has always kept me away from skiing. But snowshoes are wonderful to use. I'd never used them before,but as soon as I got a sense of how big my footprint was with my Tubbs Altitude 30 shoes on, I felt completely at ease. Being a klutz didn't seem to be an issue. The shoes stuck like glue even when the terrain was uphill and a bit icy. Most of the time I felt I was floating through the trail and as secure as if I were walking on a spring day.

We're melting just a bit today, but we might have a bit of snow again tomorrow. Maybe we can set out again on Christmas Eve...

Horrible week continues

I hope all this is about over. Early this morning Sophie, our Australian Blue Heeler, was very uncomfortable. John found some discharge this morning and we thought she probably had an infected anal gland, a repeat of last summer. We rushed her off to Dr. Terry Moore, our family vet, and called mid-day to see if we could pick her up. John was incredulous over the phone. Dr. Moore said she had bite wounds, and from the spacing of the wounds Carson, our big guy, must have done it. From the infection Dr. Moore estimated that she was bitten last Saturday, the same day Ki was bit. Dr. Moore took care of Soph, and we'll pick her up tomorrow. But John and I were left totally dumbfounded. Carson is as sweet a huge dog as you ever would meet. He totally adored Soph when he was a pup: he followed her everywhere and imprinted on her every move. John and I used to laugh about it. Suddenly he turned into a biter - he's still super toward people - but obviously he can't be trusted around dogs.

If we only had another huge yard where he could have been by himself, or to play with other dogs under our watch. Sadly, we don't. John and I decided to put him up for adoption at our good Humane Society. They have a no-euthanize policy, so we don't need to contemplate that. But it was damned hard this afternoon. John was crying as he unlocked his van. I went to the shop to let Carson in for the last time. He rolled over for me, licked me everywhere, and wanted his tummy scratched. John and I both held him for a while. I sense that he understood what was happening. He didn't want to go with John, but he did.

I went back inside - I had a phone conference just a few minutes later - and I dissolved in tears, sobbing like a kid who'd just lost his friend. And I was.

Puppy update

Ki came home this morning! He's upstairs in our bedroom playing couch potato - exactly what the vet wanted him to do.

I was so glad that he improved with conservative management and supportive care. Unlike the first vet we saw the specialists advised us not to do anything invasive until they had a chance to let things heal up on their own. The tracheal problem subsided within twelve hours, and he started acting more like his normal self by yesterday morning. John and I picked him up this morning after my optometrist appointment. We'll keep him on antibiotics for a week, and watch him like a hawk for a couple of weeks.

More dog drama

Yesterday ranks as one of the worst days in 2005 for me. Just before lunch one of our neighbors rapped on our door to tell us she saw two of our dogs bullying our little guy. John and I ran outside to find that they'd been chewing on Ki again. He was a mass of blood, snow, and grime. I swept him into my arms and we ran to our trusted vet. She took one look at him and saw that his trachea was torn; air was seeping into his neck tissues with each breath. She sent us packing to the emergency vet clinic because they provide round-the-clock care on weekends.

The drive out to the clinic near the airport seemed to take forever; John was driving as fast as humanly possible while I sat with Ki. Ki shifted in my arms and coughed. We pulled into the clinic's snowy parking lot and ran inside with him. Fortunately the wonderful attending vet who cared for Ki two weeks ago was again on duty. She took one look at him, swept him out of my arms and into the clinic where they started some oxygen and did limited debridement.

She proposed conservative management with a pressure bandage, supportive care, and time. By the time we saw him in his oxygen tent he looked visibly more comfortable. I was a wreck on the way home and for most of the evening.

Our two big dogs acted sheepish last night, but the real surprise was our Australian Blue Heeler, Sophie. Soph came inside, didn't find Ki, and immediately raced around the house to all of his favorite haunts. When she didn't find him she ran upstairs to the bedroom where she and Ki sleep. Not finding him there she slumped down behind John's armchair, looking as forlorn as I've ever seen her. She's not left their room all day today.

I called to the clinic early this morning, and John and I went out to see him about 9. Our good vet greeted us and said that the airway problem seemed to have disappeared, and he was doing fine without oxygen. We got a little water down him and we tried to get him to eat - he can be a real pill when he doesn't want to eat. John and I went about our day, and I called for a status report just a few minutes ago. If his condition stays where it is now John and I will bring him home tomorrow for some in-home nursing care.

Neither John nor I can understand what could possibly have provoked the attack. Ki's been with all our dogs since I moved here in 1997; there's never been any trouble before. We both wonder if the two big ones may have started to pick on him because he's slower than he used to be - he's fourteen, after all. Soph obviously was looking out for him but couldn't deter the attack.  This is the last time he's going outside without John or me with him. Ki was my indoor dog in California, and he'll be our indoor dog for as long as he's with us. Hopefully Soph will be happy looking after him inside at night.

Despair.com does it again

A vice-president at one of my former employers actually put up motivational posters in the kitchen. Several of us struck back with items from Despair.com, the wonderful purveyor of demotivational items for corporate use. Now you can download their video podcasts free! Check 'em out! And if you don't think this is happening in business, you need to start reading Dilbert

A not-so-great cheezy movie

John must own a DVD of every Godzilla movie available. He's been champing at the bit to see the most recent movie Godzilla: Final Wars. It arrived today courtesy of Amazon.com and we just finished watching it.

It's a bust, unfortunately. I like most of the newer members of the Godzilla franchise. This one wants to be a cross between a video game and one of the Matrix movies, but the overall effect is dyspeptic.  There was even a cheaply done  not-really-an-homage to the scene in Return of the Jedi where a ship flies into the center of a huge spacecraft and blows up its reactor. Sigh. That was 1983, if I recall. It doesn't translate well today, I'm afraid.

Check out greenlight

I'm a Salon.com subscriber. They sent me a message informing me of a new sister publication, greenlight magazine. It's a magazine for folks interested in earth-friendly living. They'll give you free access to four quarterly issues for digital download. It has an inviting design, but some of the articles are a bit light-weight. Their article on hybrid vehicles didn't really tell you much about why hybrids are green, but it did look at available vehicles. The article on alterative lighting was pretty good (most of our light here comes from compact fluorescents, by the way).

Check 'em out...