| January 2008 |
January 1 (Tuesday)
The new year starts out cold. But it has been colder this winter already.
Goldie is hanging in there with me. Today I gave her a nice warm medicated bath. The water must have been very comfortable, because she
actually lay down in it! There she lay rolling her eyes back while I scrubbed her skin and sloshed water over her. I have noticed one thing
about her: she never makes a sound. At least, she hardly ever makes a sound. Her brother kept me awake at night, but since she arrived
she has been totally quiet. I keep myself away from her most of the time. I don't want her to get so accustomed to having me around that she
starts crying when I am not there. I need my sleep at night.
As I've studied her body I've noticed how emaciated she is. There are numerous open sores and way more bare spots than fur-covered. It is
difficult for me to believe. Thank God I finally got the opportunity to do something for her.
January 2 (Wednesday)
A few years ago I did some research and found that the mean coldest day of the year falls around January 20 (I don't recall the exact day). I
concern myself with this, as opposed to caring what the mean warmest day of the year, because I abhor cold weather. Oh, I did become
accustomed to the cold climate of the Chicago area when I lived there for eight years, but I cannot deny that after having been relocated to
the sunny South, I am much more acclimated to the warm temperatures than the cold.
Having said that, I do very much get a kick out of burning the fireplace. Sitting there on a cold evening, watching the flames kick about, and
smelling the sweet scent of burning wood; and even with occasionally bearing some choking blow-back, that is a difficult experience to eclipse.
But I would rather the weather be warm. During the cold days I worry about my animals. For the past few nights nearly all of the cats,
including the ones who normally reside outside, have been finding their way into the house. It is neat to look up and see them all scattered
about the place, enjoying what must be to them a much more preferable place to bitter cold outdoors. But there are those few who still prefer
the outside.
I observed Goldie this morning before I left the house. There is something definitely wrong with her. She must have some sort of brain
impairment. She has great difficulty walking, and when she makes an attempt to turn, she sways and either nearly falls over or falls over
altogether. She doesn't appear to be in any pain, however. I wish I could spend more time at home to look after her, but she is still
quarantined from the other dogs. So for now, unless the house burns down, she is safe.
January 3 (Thursday)
The temperature generally will not get much colder this winter than it did last night. I do not have an outdoor thermometer at my house, but
according to the local weather report the temperature approached single digits. Eleven (11) degrees was the coldest I saw. Alas, it could get
colder since we have not yet reached the mean coldest day of winter, which, as I mentioned on yesterday is around January 20. I am
recollecting that the coldest temperature I personally have seen in Mississippi is around five (5) degrees.
My brain works on me sometimes, and this morning as I was driving in, I was thinking about something. Is there a name or description for how
we so often answer a question by giving a justification for the answer instead of the answer itself: "Did you spill the coffee on the floor?"
Instead of saying "Yes" or "No" a typical answer might be: "Well, Fred bumped into me," or, "I wasn't here at the time." Those answers could
be construed as evasions, except that they do imply an answer. I am fed up with the oft-used advertisement: "It's new!" or "It's different." As if
"new" or "different" are the same as "better." "We need a change in direction!" or "We need a change in leadership!" are cries you hear
around election time. Of course, even when we do get a change in leadership or direction, the next election cycle we once again hear that we
need new leadership and/or a new direction.
January 4 (Friday)
The weather will be warming up this weekend, and hopefully I shall be able to re-supply my store of firewood. The little yella girl, Goldie, is
doing just great. It's difficult to tell if she has improved physically -- I've only had her a week, but I can already tell that the internal worms
appear to have cleared up. She is beautiful and so sweet. I am looking forward to spending some very meaningful time with her this weekend.
Take a look at the picture below and please tell me why you would ever let such a sweet baby get in such a condition. In this picture her back
is covered with a wash rag, but underneath looks about the same as her face -- very raw and very little hair. But give me a month and you'll
see a totally different girl.
January 5 (Saturday)
Today is a great day to burn a fire. Goldie is a little more spry, but she has a ways to go to heal from her skin condition. I treated myself to a
Porterhouse today and Goldie got a meaty bone on which to chew. I took a couple of pictures of two cats I had once upon a time: Whisper
was such a sweetheart. I do miss him so. Shadow was a sibling to Smoky. Shadow loved to hang out in the cherry tree and watch the
hummingbirds.
January 7 (Monday)
I attended a Memphis Grizzlies basketball game yesterday evening with my boss and a client from Miami. My first experience attending a
professional basketball game was a really good one. I enjoyed myself, and the Grizzlies won the game.
The day wasn't all great, however. Bonnie suffered her first seizure in over a year. I do not know why. I give her two phenobarbital tablets
each day, roughly 12 hours apart, and since I started doing that her seizures, which had begun a couple of years ago, had subsided. But
she suffered a seizure anyway. This worries me. Bonnie could have a seizure while I am away and could literally drown in her own saliva.
But Goldie is beginning to look great. Her demeanor and disposition have greatly improved. She moves around much more steadily on her
feet, wagging her tail like a good puppy should. She has a very healthy appetite, and her coat is showing signs of filling out. Her skin is
sloughing off more and more, but that is to be expected. She is looking really great, and I am tremendously happy about that. I love that little
girl.
January 8 (Tuesday)
My mantra ("I would rather crawl in than call in") got a little bit of a test today. I stayed up late last night and watched the LSU victory over Ohio
State in the BCS championship game. I went to bed at roughly four hours past my normal bedtime of 8:00 pm, but was at work at my usual
7:30 am this morning. Yeah, I took pictures of my TV, but maybe I'll add those later; then again maybe I won't -- we'll see.
That little Goldie has made a dramatic improvement. Yesterday and this morning she was running around, wagging her tail, and just generally
showing how healthy she really is. I thought she might not make it those first couple of days, but boy, oh boy, has she made a turnaround.
January 9 (Wednesday)
I need to get an new picture of Goldie. She is so really doing fine. She has finally come out of her shell. Yesterday she insisted that I let her
out of prison, so I did, and she ran around, wagging her tail and shaking her rear end, and being a nuisance to everybody. She is such a
happy little girl. She still has a lot of bare skin showing, but you can see that the hair is starting to grow. It makes her itch and will continue to
do so for a day or two more. As a result she did a lot of scratching yesterday. But all of that scratching is not a sign of mange or fleas -- it is a
sign that she is getting better. I let her sleep in the bed with me last night, and once the lights were off, she surmised that it was time to go to
bed. So she calmed down and didn't bother me all night. Mostly.
January 10 (Thursday)
Sam and Fred are out of the fence every day that I arrive home. I am looking into getting the fence extended to include the front yard. The
yellow girl (Goldie) has become a real ball of fire. She gets so excited, as all puppies do, and still scratches a lot, and neither Fred nor Sam
seem to care much for her, but Scamp and Lu Lu do play with her. Oscar jumps at her like he's going to eat her up, but I think he is just
playing (he hasn't eaten her yet).
I saw Buddy (the white cat down at my mother's house) today when I went to feed him. He is great. He slapped me when I left but with one BIG
difference: his claws were sheathed. I can well recall the day when if I got within 10 feet of him he might take a slap at me with claws glaring!
January 11 (Friday)
Goldie has become attached to me when I am at home. She follows me everywhere. And when she gets to where I am going she uses her
very sharp teeth to inform me and keep me informed that she is there. That girl is very healthy, indeed.
January 14 (Monday)
The weekend was cold enough to burn a fire. There is nothing to beat burning a fireplace in your own house using wood you cut yourself off
of your own place!
I did go outside for a while to take these pictures of Goldie.
So what's this about the upcoming presidential race? I have perennially leaned toward the Republican party. I don't recall that I ever voted
Democrat. That being said, I am not, nor have I very often been, completely in love with the various Republican party platforms. I do wish we
could find a way to do away with the federal income tax. There is this thing called a "fair" tax. I think it is something like a federal sales tax.
For me that would be great, since I am so frugal. I don't spend a lot of money, so I think I would do very well with that sort of tax.
No, I do not believe that the president can greatly effect the various things about which the candidates so often pontificate: family values,
education, the status of the middle and poorer classes, the economy, and so on. After all, the Pilgrims and the Jamestown settlers had little or
no entitlements when they landed in the New World --uh, I guess they had none. We are pretty much what we make of ourselves, and no
president is going to change things much.
At one place in my journal I mentioned having small respect for John Thompson because of how he "quasi" announced his intention to run for
president on one of the late-night talk shows: "testing the waters..." That just infuriates me! Dammit, man, who the hell cares about that?
Either run for president or shut the hell up. I cannot respect a man who waits to see which direction the crown is running, then runs ahead
and acts like he is the leader.
And as for Mike Huckabee -- did God call him to preach or run for president? No, I disagree with you. You cannot do both. For a man who
claims to have the call to preach to then claim that he is running for president is to do like Jonah did and try and run from his responsibilities.
Mike Huckabee is a perfect illustration of how the Southern Baptist Convention lacks any real conviction. They aren't really serious about
winning the lost to Christ. What's that you say? Maybe he can do more good as president than as pastor, you say? Hmph! Give me chapter
and verse on that one. The problem for me with Huckabee is lack of credibility. He reminds me of Pat Robertson: "I'm not a televangelist, I am
a tele-journalist." What a laugh! The man does not really believe what he preaches. He does not really believe that millions of lost people
are dying daily and going to hell. I've listened to him several times on national T.V, and not one single time has he even mentioned the gospel
message of Christ dying for our sins. What a fraud he is!
January 15 (Tuesday)
Campaign rhetoric. Michigan is getting it thick today. Why is not the entire country as sick of it as I am? You hear people talk, and they are
so certain that their candidate will lead the way to health and prosperity.
I went to bed very early yesterday; consequently, I awoke very early this morning and arrived to work very early. We are in the cold time, but
fortunately we are in it, not before it. At least now it is upon us, and we can look forward to when it ends.
I hope you can understand what I just wrote, because I am not certain I can. The animals were all over me last night. I guess I had four cats
and eight dogs in bed with me. At least it was warm.
January 16 (Tuesday)
Pardon me for appearing to pick on Mike Huckabee, but there he was again on national television last night. In the past the man preached
about the lost and dying of the world needing to come to Christ, and now that he has a national platform he says not a word! As I said before:
what a fraud!
I don't care about a man's religion. John Kennedy was Catholic, but you didn't see the Pope running things from the White House. If the
rumors about president Jack were true then he was the perfect illustration of the Catholic Church and its lack of morality. I grew up in South
Louisiana, and the moral ambiguities of the Catholic Church can be seen every day. Are you aware of Mardis gras? It is okay to get drunk
and sleep with your neighbor's wife, so long as you go to confession and slip a "Jackson" into the plate, if you know what I mean.
There was Huckabee yesterday pontificating about "a world of hurt out there." He was referring to a "world of hurt" existing in the United
States. I like what Abraham Lincoln said, and if I may be excused, I am going to change the words a little: "A man has as much pain as he
makes up his mind to have." We have a lot of hurt because we think we do. Greedy people have economic woes; hard-working, frugal people
know how to conserve their resources, and they are the ones who do not worry about the economic pressures.
I don't recall his exact words, but Mitt Romney said it correctly: The effect of the presidency is not really that much in the long run. The real
power of the presidency is in the veto. A president's overall effect of things is minimal. The largest overall effect comes from the governed,
not the governor.
No, I did not say that I am a Mitt Romney disciple.
January 17 (Thursday)
A dark and brooding sky with cold temperatures. Of course, it does not get extremely cold here in the south. Today's high should be in the
40's or 50's, but at night we'll drop near 30 or below. Saturday night is supposed to see temperatures once again into the teens -- a far cry
from what I saw when I was living near Chicago, but cold enough for around here. At last I have my fireplace, which just happen to be the best
source of heat a person can have.
I keep Goldie isolated from the other dogs during the day while I am away. She does not like it, but I am not going to let happen to her what
befell her brother a few weeks ago. I try not to think about that.
January 19 (Saturday)
Yesterday was a busy day, programming-wise. When I arrived home yesterday evening, Oscar was outside the fence, along with Sam and
Fred. I have already given the go-ahead to a local fence company to do some work for me, hopefully within a couple of weeks.
I had a good fire going last night. I have been burning white oak, and let me tell you that stuff burns hot. Cozy!
January 22 (Tuesday)
It has been a busy two days -- yesterday and today. Goldie is doing fine, as are Smoky and Cleo. I arrived home yesterday evening to find
Oscar, along with Sam and Fred, out of the fence. Oscar was limping and trailing blood. That boy! Something wrong with his foot, but at
least it stopped bleeding shortly after he got home.
January 23 (Wednesday)
Busy. Busy. Busy. Lot's of programming going on. The animals are all okay, and that's about all that matters to me. Besides the fact that I
still have a job. The weather has not been excruciatingly cold -- only in the upper 20's and low 30's at night.
January 27 (Sunday)
I've been so busy I did not realize that I have not contributed to my journal in a few days. I worked this weekend on the EIS application.
January 28 (Monday)
The weather should warm up a bit today. I had the fireplace really going this past weekend.
Goldie is much improved. It should be about time to get her Parvo booster and to get her spayed. The hair is starting to show on her back
and those ugly sores on her face and legs are pretty much gone. She runs and plays with the other dogs, and she has finally figured out how
to use the pet door, although I am afraid that she hasn't quite figured out about the need to go outside to take care of business. I had to put
her away from the other dogs this morning. She hates that, but I shall continue to do that until I feel that it is safe to leave her out with the
bigger dogs. Having said that I do believe she has grown quite a bit in the past month. She is a very sweet and a very smart puppy.
January 29 (Tuesday)
Warmer but very rainy today. Supposed to dip into the 20's tonight. Goldie is very smart. She runs from me as I am leaving in the morning.
Evidently she is aware that I am going to put her in the hallway, where I have a barricade set up to keep her from mingling with the other dogs.
Fred is the culprit, I'm sure. I don't yet trust him to behave himself around her while I am gone. Anyway, she doesn't like the solitary
confinement. I wouldn't either, but it is for her own good.
January 31 (Thursday)
A little ice on the vehicle this morning. I haven't seen Buddy the white cat in a couple of weeks. Goldie is doing great as is everyone. Lot's of
good programming going on. I am doing a complete overhaul of the EIS Order Approval application, so very busy.