March 1 (Saturday)
I made a visit to Jackson, Tennessee today. On the way back I drove through Guys, Tennessee, which is my custom if I am returning
home from the North (Selmer, Jackson, etc.). About a half-mile from home I happened upon a herd of horses, about 15 in all. They
were all loose and were not confined behind a fence. I called the McNairy County sheriff's department and informed them. They said
they would check in to it.
Take a look at this picture I took of Thumper "attacking" Oscar as he enters the house through the doggie door.
March 3 (Monday)
I finally got some pictures of Buddy, my white cat. It was very early and very dark; I had difficulty getting him to be still, so the picture isn't
quite clear. But it is him: beautiful, lovable him. It took me a full three years from the time I first met him away off in the woods to coax
him into the clear and finally get him tamed down a bit. I have the scars to prove it. His pictures are here.
March 4 (Tuesday)
A little bit of bad weather today. Not enough to prohibit us from enjoying being alive. I believe I have managed to fix up the order
approval application so that it "self-updates." Boring stuff, I am sure.
I have been keeping the beagle locked in a bathroom while I am away at work. I don't like it, and she doesn't like it, but at least I know
that when I arrive home she will be there in one piece. I have named her "Cathy." I probably won't be able to secure a good home for
her, so I guess I am her good home. She runs around and plays with the other dogs, but I'm not yet comfortable with leaving her loose.
It still grieves me very much to think about what happened to Yella Fella and Goldie.
March 5 (Wednesday)
Sunny and warmer, and supposed to get colder and nastier. Welcome to the mid-south. Actually, abrupt change in weather is not
uncommon anywhere in most of the United States, but the mid-south unique weather situation results from its proximity to the Gulf of
Mexico. Since the upper jet stream constantly blows from West to East, any warm air that manages to migrate northward is bound to
clash with any cold air coming from the northwest, and more often than not that clash occurs somewhere in the mid-south.
March 8 (Saturday)
A great weekend so far. I left the office at around 10:00 on Friday and arrived home by noon. Prediction of bad winter weather, and
yep, it snowed last night. Cold this weekend, but expecting things to warm up next week.
March 10 (Monday)
How time does fly! We had snow Friday night into Saturday morning. I am wondering why I didn't say anything about it in my Saturday
post. Well, I'll post some pictures of the snow here later on, probably tomorrow. It has been a busy few days.
March 12 (Wednesday)
Here are the snow pictures!
I arrived home yesterday to find Cathy (the beagle) outside. She had torn her way through my bathroom door and crawled over the
barricade. I have a pet carrier made for a horse (or a very large dog). I put her in that before I left home this morning. Hopefully, that
will keep her safe and secure. As for my poor bathroom door ...
March 13 (Thursday)
Today I worked from home. It is the first day that I did not go to the office since I started on May 11. I've had some fever for the past
couple of days. I have no other symptoms, just fever. I don't know what is wrong with me. I surmise that perhaps it's just that we went
back to daylight savings time this week. I awake very early as it is, and this week I am waking an hour earlier. Maybe I am just tired.
Whoknows?
I enjoyed working from home. It has been 10 months since I worked from home. It felt funny -- both exhilarating and depressing.
March 14 (Friday)
Rainy and very wet, but warm. I slept a little better last night. Headache, though, but not as bad as I've had.
March 16 (Sunday)
Not much going on this weekend. All animals, of the ones still with me, are okay. Pookie has been gone for more than a week. Poor
baby. Cathy is doing great. Perhaps today I shall be able to get her spayed and get her cherry eye fixed. My vet usually lets me visit on
Sunday evening since he knows my weekly schedule. He is very accommodating in that way.
March 18 (Tuesday)
Yesterday was a short day work-wise. I made a visit to the doctor in the afternoon. The ride home was pleasant -- nothing much to get
excited about. The animals were all accounted for when I arrived home.
March 19 (Wednesday)
Looks like a gray day, but a relatively warm day.
I shall comment on an issue that has been hot in the news lately: the remarks by Barrack Obama's former pastor, Reverend Wright. Fox
news Bill O'Reilly: "The senator's speech was a mixed deal. First, the positives. He was right that race remains an unresolved
problem in America on both sides. And that is a complicated matter. The senator is also correct when he said that Reverend Wright's
anti-American statements were misguided and driven by an obsolete view of the country."
Yesterday, Barrack Obama gave a speech on the matter. It was as lucid a piece of oratory as you would want to hear. I listened to it
online. Bill O'Reilly's comments contain a contradiction. How can it be that race [issues] being a current unresolved problem constitute
an obsolete view of the country? If the problems are current then they are not obsolete. If they are obsolete then they do not exist.
It is too bad that black people in this country do not realize how good they have it. They need to get over the slavery and Jim Crow eras
that do stain America's past. Slavery and Jim Crow are dead. However, I do believe that blacks deserve perhaps a "mulligan" in this.
The inner-city black was bred to hate the white man. He was raised to resent the white man for what the white man did to the black
man's ancestors. I gotta tell ya: As much as the black man needs to get over it, I really can see how it would be a very difficult thing to
do. I think white people can afford to give blacks a little lee-way on this issue. It is not totally the black man's fault that he finds himself in
the position he is in today. It is partly his fault if he stays in it, but it is not totally his fault if he starts out in it. Deny it or not, the white
man created this problem. The white man did everything he could to retard the black man during post-civil war reconstruction, and now
the problems that exist in America's inner cities is a direct result of the white man's policies. Deny it or not.
March 21 (Friday)
Dave worked me yesterday like a Chinese coolie. I spent approximately 11.5 hours at work. He is lucky to have me as an employee.
I started monitoring my blood pressure at my doctor's insistence. It is not great. I would say somewhere around 155/97, thereabouts. It
is much lower some days/times and higher on other. I last smoked a cigar on Tuesday. I haven't decided if I am going to quit, but I do
believe I have the ability to do so. I do love cigars, but I don't think I am addicted to the nicotine. Occasionally I will let the cigars slide,
and I never get any kind of fits. We'll see.
March 24 (Monday)
Cathy got her shots yesterday, and she got spayed. I would say she is still less than a year old. Today she has been rather listless, so I
presume she is a little sore from her experience.
Cougar got some more tooth work yesterday. That poor baby has had a rough time of it. The doc says he still has some more work to
do. But he is up and around today and looking better. He even made an attempt to eat.
March 25 (Tuesday)
Cathy and Cougar both are much better.
I awoke this morning to find the usual suspects in bed with me: Fred, Sam, Oscar, Clyde, Bonnie, Cathy, Princess, Thumper, Boots, and
Tiger. I don't know how most people view my living arrangements, but for me it is like heaven.
March 27 (Thursday)
I worked from home again today. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and while I was there my blood pressure soared. Lucky thing I
was at the doctor. They kept me until I improved. The gave me a pill that knocked the heck out of me. I stayed home today because
the doctor gave me some medicine for the blood pressure, and I wanted to see how it would affect me before I drive. I have a doctor's
appointment in Memphis tomorrow. On Monday i see a cardiologist and a dentist. So I won't be going to work on Monday.
At least, I've finally made myself start looking after myself. I am in really good shape for 53 years. I am happy and healthy, and I have a
very large family that needs me. I intend to keep myself fit so that I can continue to care for them.
Hopefully this Saturday I shall start working on putting up a fence in the front yard. My friend Larry, from Bigger's Hardware will be here
to help me out (well, I'll help him.)
March 28 (Friday)
Another doctor appointment today. My blood pressure has not been good, so it appears that for the first time in my young life (53 years)
I shall be taking medications. I have been fortunate to have enjoyed good health up to now.
It appears that I have put the cigars aside. Tuesday, the 17th, was the last day I smoked a cigar. All I did that day was to light a cigar
and take one or two puffs. Then I killed the cigar. Nothing since then.
Monday it will be the dentist and Tuesday the cardiologist.
March 29 (Saturday)
It won't be easy to talk about this, but I lost Sheba yesterday. Sheba was the very first. I had not been a rescuer of animals when Sheba
came into my life about 7 years ago. She gave me four precious babies, one of whom I still have (Smoky). I went shopping yesterday for
fencing materials, and I arrived home to find her deceased body. I cannot say anything more about it.
My friend, Larry, and a friend of his, Andrew, worked on getting in fence posts yesterday. They should be here this morning to finish the
job, hopefully.