July 2008

July 1 (Tuesday)

Back to work just one week after having a heart attack!  Actually, I returned to work yesterday, Monday, June 30.  I was sick.  I felt weak
and woozy all day, but I feel better today.  Still not 100%, but alive.  Alive is better than dead.

Animals are all safe and sound.  Summertime is here.  I shall turn 54 years of age on next Tuesday (July 8).  We are having an early
birthday cake today at work.

July 2 (Wednesday)

An exciting day yesterday.  I became very woozy at work, and my arms felt heavy so I had myself driven to the emergency room as a
precaution.  Turns out that perhaps one of my medications was being disagreeable.  I saw Sabrina, one of the nurses in attendance that
day, when I had my heart attack.  A professional she certainly is and very pleasant.  She is not married, nor is she dating anyone, and
she is very nice to look at, and she is the one who took my pants off that day ..., and I should be so lucky that she would pay me any
attention.

The professionals at St. Francis have all been very competent and pleasant to be around.  The doctors from the Stern Cardiac Center,
who did my surgery and follow-up have been equal to the task.  Bedside manner is not a weakness of any of these people.

I suppose it would be perfectly expected if I had taken a couple, maybe three weeks off to recover.  I was back at work one week to the
day after my attack.  I figure that as long as I am out of imminent danger I am better off returning to work.  I am a very routine individual,
and returning to my regular routine is better for me, in my opinion.

It is so great to be back with the dogs and cats.  The poor things went nearly three days without their daddy, and I know they were as
happy to see me back home as I was to be back home.

We had carrot cake yesterday when I returned from the hospital.  Amy (Dave, my boss's wife) had asked what kind of cake I wanted.  My
favorite is chocolate, but I thought it would be good to have a "heart healthy" cake with which to celebrate, so I requested the carrot
cake.  A very good cake it was, too.

July 4 (Friday)

It is relatively early in the day, yet:  10:00 am.  I put together one of the dog kennels and intend to move Buddy and Prince up from my
sister's house as soon as I can catch them.

Life is good.  Was it just less than two weeks ago that I passed death's door?  It is still hard to believe, but each day that goes by I
become more cognizant of what just happened.  Today is a beautiful day, and there are plenty of reasons to smile!
Buddy
Prince

July 5 (Saturday)

Well I finally got them home.  I put together one of the dog kennels, patched any holes that might be about, and covered the top with
chicken wire, and this morning early went down to my Sister's house and retrieved Prince and Buddy.  For a few minutes they looked
perplexed in their new surroundings but eventually seemed to settle in.  It will be a few days or even a couple of weeks, but in time both
cats will become very accustomed to their new surroundings, and I won't have to worry about them anymore.  Already my mind is very
much at ease to have them here with me at last.  Never a day and hardly a minute would go by without my being cognizant that they were
there and I was here.  I would always be apprehensive as to their well-being, but no more.
Darkly ("Prince") enjoys lounging in his new surroundings.  Buddy is hiding out under the red
trailer to the left (see below).

July 6 (Sunday)

I have reached the stage of my life when I go to bed when I get sleepy and for me that was around 7:00 yesterday evening.  Now here it
is 3:00 am, and I am wide awake.  I don't feel old.  I don't look old.  Why am I behaving like an old person?  Well, at least I don't use
Geritol.

I went out and visited with Buddy and Darkly.  They appear to be happy where they are with no complaints.  It is good to finally have that
behind me.

This gang of worthless pups ... I don't know what to do with them:
More images of Buddy taken today.  He even has a personality:
Buddy, I'm so glad I've got you:
I know I need a shave, eat your heart out.

July 7 (Monday)

Already Darkly and Buddy seem to be adjusting well to life inside the cage.  This morning both were lying about on one of the tables I put
inside the cage for them.  Buddy no longer is in hiding.  They seem very well content, with no crying for attention or to get out.  What a
relief.  Now I have been wondering if I should confine the rest of the cats.  For the most part they have roamed free without incident, but
you never know.  Boots crosses the road, I know that, so he might be the first candidate to get confined.  But he comes across as being
one that wouldn't take to that too well.  I suspect that Pete crosses the road also, but I don't know that for sure.

I am back at work this morning.  Two weeks ago today all hell broke loose with my heart condition, but it seems today that everything
turned out okay.  Apparently there was no damage to the heart, and the long-term prognosis is good.
Here I am at my desk this morning eating an apple.  You can see a few of the empty Quaker
Oats boxes on the shelf.  My diet has for a long time been relatively good, but for some reason
I turned out to be highly susceptible to plaque buildup anyway.

July 8 (Tuesday)

Well everybody has a birthday, and today is mine.  The big 5-4!  Well, that's enough of that.

Buddy and Darkly have settled into their new home, and they both appear to be content with the arrangement.  The dogs are doing just
fine -- I awoke in the middle of the night to find Oscar lying next to me.  He is a big dog but an equally big baby.  A couple of times during
the night I felt first Cougar, then Lightly crawling on me.  Once I think Boots took his turn at irritating me.

Anyways, I'm back in the saddle at work; my heart is pumping blood; and it's summertime.  Today is a bright and sunny day.  There are
lots of things to smile about!

July 9 (Wednesday)

With all the hoopla surrounding my heart attack of two weeks ago I have forgotten to mention an event that occurred two years ago on
July 2.  On that day my sister, Susie passed away.  If you did not know Susie you missed out.  Susie was born with brain damage and a
cleft palate, and spent her entire life retarded as a result.  Although she always lived with my mother, she did become very independent
in many ways.  She could read and write very well, and generally lived a very long and fulfilling life, dying at the age of 54.  I have
thought a lot about the fact that I nearly died at a younger age than she.

Susie had a strong influence on many people during her life.  She is gone now.  She is still loved, and she will be missed.

The best thing that ever happened to me was being Susie Taylor's "little" brother.

July 10 (Thursday)

Nothing exciting so far today.  The time is 7:30 am, and I have been in the office for just over 30 minutes.  Getting to work early allows
me to arrive home at a decent hour.  Actually, working long hours is normally not a problem for me, but with the animals to look after I
generally am forced to work as close to a regular schedule as possible.  Especially since Bonnie requires her daily medication, morning
and evening.  I can't get too far out of line time-wise because of her.

On yesterday we finally got around to using of the smaller applications I developed.  Basically what it does is transfer data from one
server to another.  This would ordinarily not be a mean feat, but we wanted something that would automate the process, and make the
process relatively easy for us and the client.  Actually, I had developed two applications that we used yesterday.  The other application
we used yesterday reads data from an Excel spreadsheet and stores it into the database of one of our big applications.

We had a gully-washer yesterday.  I have a leak or two in my roof at home, which will require repair soon.  I am contemplating replacing
the shingles I currently have with metal roofing.  The roof on the carport I have behind my house, where I house the outside cats is
especially in a state of disrepair.

July 11 (Friday)

Another Friday.  I have mentioned somewhere before that having worked from home for five years I lost the excitement of the weekend.  
To me every day was like any other.  Having had to hit the road for the past year, TGIF has more-or-less returned to its previously
elevated position.

It's funny to watch the dogs when I leave for work each morning.  The dogs each have their respective places to be when I leave:  Fred
has a kennel; Sam, Oscar, and Scamp go to a kennel; Cathy has a kennel.  When I leave in the morning I bribe the dogs to go to their
places by dropping cat food into their area.  The dogs have gotten to where they will just about always go to their place before I give
them the cat food, making that part of my morning relatively easy.  In addition, I always tell them to "go to their room," as I'm dropping the
cat food.  Now as I am leaving I can say, "Go to your room," and the dogs automatically go to where they are supposed to be.  Pretty
neat!

July 13 (Monday)

Why does Monday get such a bad rap?  While driving to work this morning I was tempted to pull to the side of the road and give a shout.  
Mondays are for me just about the most exciting day of the week.  I thrive on routine, and getting up early and driving to work is very
routine.  It is great to have a job and to be alive to go to that job.  While TGIF has returned to place of prominence in my world, Monday
morning continues to be king.

Anyways, my lawnmower is in disrepair, and with all the rain we've gotten my yard is getting to the point to where I may not be able to
mow it.  Actually, only the lower deck belt (the one that drives the blades) is in need of being changed.  I attempted to do that over the
weekend, but it looks like I shall need some help getting it done.  Other than that, the mower is fine.

July 15 (Tuesday)

It is so reassuring to be able to see Buddy and Darkly when I go out to my car in the mornings now.

So how did "Darkly" and "Lightly" receive their names?  Mother had been given Cleopatra, who had been called "Cleo" by her previous
owner.  Cleo arrived fully pregnant and promptly delivered a litter of four, of which one is no longer with us.  Of the remaining three there
are Pinky, Darkly, and Lightly.  Mother gave Darkly and Lightly their names.  When they were tiny tots it was very difficult to tell them
apart.  As they matured, one appeared to be slightly "darker" than the other.  I've tried to change their names to "Prince" and "Princess,"
but I am having a difficult time getting those names to stick.

I have two other cats with weird names: BKI and BKII (Black Kat's I and II).  I have had them for a few years now, and I positively cannot
tell them apart.

July 16 (Wednesday)

Not much exciting happening today.  I am at work, and I am busy at work.  The animals were all okay when I arrived home yesterday and
when I left home this morning.  The dogs woke me up this morning as they do most mornings:  before the alarm sounded.  I'll wake up
when a couple of them start licking me on the face.  Once in a while one of them will do that even though it isn't time to get up, but I can
usually tell when it is time:  I'll hear several of them panting.  If Bonnie and Cathy are licking my face and Oscar, Fred, and Sam are all
panting I know that it is time to get up.  Dogs.

Before I had dogs the cats did me the same way.  When it was time to get up, one or two of them would crawl on top of me and either
start licking me or they would stick a claw in me.  I prefer the way the dogs handle it.

July 18 (Friday)

I worked from home today.  Occasionally I have to take a day off from driving to Memphis in order to take care of those business matters
that can only be taken care of on a week day and during normal business hours.  I finished that up around 11:30 this morning -- too late
to make the hour and a half drive to Memphis meaningful.  So I worked from home.

Among the things I did today was take Cougar to get the last of his dental work finished.  Boy was he glad to get that over with!  He's
already gobbling his food!  I love that Cougar.  He's a good kitty.

The dogs all got a round of tapeworm medicine.  I noticed some tapeworm on someone's stool, and since I cannot tell whose, they all got
treated.

July 20 (Sunday)

I finally got out and fixed the lawnmower myself.  The deck belt (the one that turns the blades) had become discombobulated, so I
crawled underneath the mower, removed the deck, and changed the belt.  Then I mowed.  It was too hot today to mow the whole yard,
but I got half of it done.

Now that I think about it, wasn't it dumb of me not to take pictures of the mower with the deck off the prove what I did?

Anyways, Cougar is eating everything in site.  It was only yesterday that he got that last bit of tooth out, and he appears to feel no bad
after-effects.  I think I'll go have my teeth worked on if it's that easy.

July 24 (Thursday)

No news is good news, I suppose.  Now that he has had the last of his teeth pulled, Cougar is eating everything in site.  The animal
chores are many.  I have experimented with a special feeding for Clyde and Bonnie.  They've had their teeth out also.  I soak their dry
dog food and mix it with some canned and isolate them while they eat.  So far, so good on that.

All of the ones who've had "accidents" recently are doing great.  Cleo is in full health, as are Smokey and Cathy.  Cathy runs around
outside with the big dogs, and it is a funny site to see.  The big dogs, Oscar, Sam, Fred, and Scamp, all chase each other around, totally
cognizant of each other's presence, and there is Cathy running and chasing after them.  She'll jump at and around the bigger dogs, but
they don't seem to notice.  It's as if they look upon her as that little kid who's always trailing along.  At least they leave her alone.

July 26 (Saturday)

I did some mowing yesterday evening after I arrived home from work.  I did some shopping this morning early enough to return home by
7:30 am.  My diet has taken a big change.  Whereas, I have long eaten frugally I have not always eaten sanely, except for the oatmeal.  I
eat a bowl of oatmeal most mornings.  My morning breakfast usually is oatmeal.  I use 1/2 cup of regular Quaker oats (no minute oats;
no instant or flavored oats), 1 cup of water, and 1 tsp of brown sugar.  I microwave the water separately for about 2 minutes, then add
that to the oatmeal and brown sugar, stir and let that stand covered for about 2 minutes.  The oatmeal has a nice, "crunchy"
consistency, and I eat it like that.

I might fix a tuna fish salad, and make sandwiches from that for lunch.  I use white albacore tuna (in water).  I'll chop in some onion, bell
pepper, and apple, and bind it together with a small amount of Miracle whip Lite.  I am working on replacing the Miracle Whip.  For bread
I use whole grain wheat bread: it's the only way to go!  On the sandwiches I might include tomato, lettuce, and/or cucumber.

For dinner I'll usually fix a big pot of beans (pinto or kidney) to go along with rice.  I am beginning to gravitate toward brown rice.  I'll
usually mix in some kind of tomato product here and there, and quite often will include other kinds of vegetables -- usually steamed.  
Other  than the beans and rice I may fix a "meatless" pasta sauce to go with pasta or rice.  The sauce will include whole tomatoes that I
chop up myself, onions, bell peppers, and garlic.  I tend to stay away from adding salt to anything I eat these days.  I may add white-meat
chicken to the sauce.  I'll generally steam the chicken with a small amount of water.  I'll chop up the chicken and add it to my pasta
sauce, or I'll make a chicken salad out of that for sandwiches.  I'll often us the leftover chicken stock to cook the rice.  One cup of rice
and two cups of water will generally do quite well in the microwave for about 15 minutes.

The days of fried pork chops or chicken or cheese burgers and fried or mashed potatoes and gravy ..., all the good stuff are long gone.  
And good riddance, too!  No more clogged arteries for me.  I'm afraid the cigars are gone also.  I haven't smoked me a good cigar since
March 17.  Oh well.

And another thing:  Granny Smith apples.  I've read where they are among the highest fruit in antioxidants; so one Granny Smith apple
per day for me.  Kidney beans are also an excellent source of antioxidants.

In case you didn't know, antioxidants are necessary for the removal of all those nasty free oxygen radicals floating around in your blood
stream.  They are a natural bi-product of metabolism, and it is the job of HDL, the so-called "good" cholesterol (even though HDL isn't
really cholesterol) to scoop them up and deliver them to the liver to be expunged, but antioxidants are good for neutralizing them and
keeping them from "oxidizing" LDL (the good ol' "bad" cholesterol, even though LDL isn't really cholesterol either) before they get
scooped up.  It is oxidized LDL that tends to attack the inner walls of arteries, causing a buildup of plaque, and so on.  Whatever.

July 27 (Sunday)

I already have 8 dogs.  I don't need another.  Nonetheless, nearby neighbors found a puppy in the middle of the road recently.  They
tried to keep him, but in the end they've found that extra puppies can be a handful (they already have one dog).  So, they brought this
one to me today and asked if I could do something with him.  They call him Taz.  Being a large breed black dog, he will not make as good
an adoption candidate as another breed, so I may end up having to keep this one.  We'll see.

July 30 (Wednesday)

I left Taz at home behind one of those child gates that I placed in the back hallway.  I figured that even if he got out of that he would only
have to contend with Bonnie and Clyde who are "teeth-challenged," and Lu Lu.  Well, it did happen that he got out.  When I arrived
home I found him behind a chair in the living room.  I could tell there had been some activity, but he came crawling out and appeared to
be none the worse for his experience.  I couldn't tell what all had taken place, but there is no doubt that if the larger dogs had been in
the room, Taz would be no more.  I did find what appeared to be a bite mark on his hind leg, and he definitely had suffered some sort of
psychological Trauma.  He was all over wet, evidently from the other dogs saliva, and he cried for a long time even after I arrived home.  
Even then he cried and whimpered in my arms for the longest time.

Yesterday I left him locked in the bathroom.  I worried all day that he would get out of that, but when I arrived home he was still locked up.
Nonetheless, he still cried and whimpered for a long time after I arrived home.  So maybe separation anxiety had contributed to his
trauma of the day before.  I bought another dog crate yesterday on my way home from work and locked him in that when I left this
morning.  My mind is much more at ease now, although he did not like being locked up that way.  At least I know he will be well and whole
when I arrive home.

I still grieve much when I think of Yella Fella and Goldie and how I failed to protect them.  Those bad memories are flooding back to me
now that Taz has arrived.  Poor Yella Fella.  Poor Goldie.

July 31 (Thursday)

What a mess I had to clean up when I arrived home from work yesterday!  And then I had to endure about 20 minutes of nonstop whining
and crying and yelling from little Taz.  He followed me all around, trying to crawl up my pants leg.  I had to sit down and hold him for a few
minutes with him still whining and crying and yelling all the time.  He did eventually settle down, but I do not know what kind of trauma the
poor guy is enduring while I am away.  He was safely locked away in his cage when I arrived home.  His problem must be some extreme
form of separation anxiety.

All the other animals appear to be doing fine.  Cathy still doesn't like being shut away in her cage, but I still dare not leave her loose.  
The dogs do go nuts when I arrive home.  I let them out of their kennels and into the big fenced-in front yard where they can run and
jump and play.  The cats are all fine.  It is good to see Cougar doing so well after having all of this teeth extracted.

Work is going great.  I have a great job.  The morning drive is really pleasant.  The afternoon drive isn't bad, but it is a waste of time.