Hard Day

I hate driving.

Last night I had to take up everyone’s food except for Dora’s because of Tammy’s surgery.  I know they were all hungry — they mostly snack.

We got up early this morning, and after I got everyone — including myself — situated, I put Tammy’s collar on (she doesn’t wear one — Murphy chews them off).  Murphy was not happy.  Tammy was unsure.

I always worry more when I have one of my babies in the car, mostly because I don’t know what I would do if I had a wreck.   Since we were going against traffic, everything went fairly smoothly.  Tammy and I count the freeways — 45 to I10 to 610 to 59 and then exit Beechnut to the vet.

Tammy was more reluctant than usual at the vet’s.  She didn’t want to go with the tech, so they let me go back with her.  She’s a good dog; she just remembers the chemo.  We got he in a nice cage with a nice binky and I left for work.

I cruised in at 10 til my class, still having to change clothes and review for class.  Of course other teachers needed this and that and so my class suffered a little.    Just before I had to go observe a class, the vet called.  He had pulled Tammy’s two bad teeth, and now that he finally had her under, he could look more closely at the tumor in her mouth — everything was on the left side.  He asked if I wanted him to cut out the tumor.  After confirming that he was only talking about soft tissue (taking out half of her jaw was one option four years ago), I agreed.

I observed the class and then had to drive out to Clear Lake for my first dental appointment.  It went well and then I drove to my second appointment (I’m in the implant process for one tooth).  The second involved upper and lower impressions — which I am getting better about since I had a very kind student who is a dentist from Venezuela give me some advice.  It has worked so far.

All the while, I was thinking about the second question from the vet: did I want to have the tumor tested.  When I got back over to Beechnut, I told the vet my trouble.  In saying it, I knew.  I didn’t want to hear any bad news, but would love some good news.  But what could he do if it were bad news?  Tell me they had lost the sample?  I said send it.

He then told me that he had had to sedate poor Tammy again because she was bleeding.   And that she had pooped herself while under and that they had to clean her up.  You have to understand that Tammy’s but is at once a mass of mystery — the fur!!!! — and something of a magnet for grass and leaves.  The poor tech was so worried she hadn’t cleaned her up very well.

I got Tammy’s meds and some pictures, and we left.

The trek home was hard.  Tammy was woozy and very attached to the gear shift. The traffic was terrible on 59 to 610 to 45.

We finally got home and I found that Murphy had pooped in the house.  Sigh.

I let them out for a minute and then ran to Fiesta to get some soft wet food for Tam.

As I held the bowl for her to eat, she was still bleeding a bit.  Hopefully, it will stop by tomorrow.  She’s still a little wobbly, but I think she will be ok.

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Paul Fussell

It’s hard to say just how much his writings shaped my thinking and life.

I will always remember taking the train out of Riga going to teach class and reading Fussell.

He was under appreciated.  PBS Newshour didn’t do a segment about him tonight.  That’s on them, not him.

The Price of Getting Involved

I’ve been following the bears in Minnesota since I heard about them on Prairie Home Companion.

Today, the update was that a 3 year old female with an identification collar was shot and killed:

Gentle Jo was killed in Soudan, MN, last evening.  She made it into the forest before collapsing on the run from a shot through a lung.

Shoot first.  That’s it.

I don’t think that type of mentality will change in this country before I die.  I just hope that I can follow this little family for a year or so without any of them getting shot.

Everything is Coming Together

The NAACP today:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, educational, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.

Now if we can just get LULAC or other similarly minded organizations on board.

I remember back in 2004 when I caught a couple of guys flyering cars in our parking garage.   I ran then out, but we all  know how that Karl Rove manuever worked out.

This election year, republicans and conservatives seem desperate.  All they’ve got is race and race.  You hear it every day if you are in this Houston radio market.

I will do my part to register voters and either pay for or drive people to get their ID’s since no one knows how that lawsuit will end or how.  People need to vote.  It’s in the constitution.

 

Stink bugs and my trial solution

First, my first tomatoes.

We’ll eat a couple of these this weekend.  One will just be for seeds — the stink bugs got to it — and the other is still green.

I ripped up a couple of old shirts and tied the cloth around the rest of the tomatoes last Monday until I could get the muslin bags I ordered.  Those bags came in today and I replaced all of the clothes I had put on the tomatoes this evening.  24 total and more blooms coming along!

The rest of my garden after the jump.

Will Michael Berry Lie Again?

He’s already done so twice.

Here’s a link to his “interview” with a Medal of Honor “winner.”

He’s milked this “call” for all it’s worth and more.  Remember, I debunked it rather quickly.  I’m still getting hits from people who are using my posts to debunk Berry’s claims on some of the most obscure forums.

And now I find that Ramon Robles is also a liar.  No wonder he has no problem with Michael Berry lying or Joe PagLIARulo either.

Carlos Fuentes

This will happen more and more as time goes by, but it will never be easy.

Carlos Fuentes died today.  I had the good fortune to meet him briefly in a book signing line many years ago.

He was a great writer and I thank him for my introduction to Mexican literature. His Buried Mirror is a touchstone for the history of our continent.

RIP, Carlos Fuentes.

Weak Sauce

I don’t know if this sort of thing will continue to November.  If it does, it makes wingnuts look weak.

First it was Mitt Romney, as a FATHER, an adult, strapping his dog to the top of the family car.

Wingnuts fight back with ‘Obama ate dog’ .  It makes a difference that he was a kid and someone fed it to him.

Next, we find that Mitt Romney led a posse to forcibly pin down a classmate and cut the guy’s hair — because the guy wasn’t conforming.  At the time, Romney was old enough to go fight in Vietnam.  Romney claims not to remember anything about it and offers a weasel apology — the If anyone was offended type of apology.  Weak. Sauce.

Rush Limbaugh “fights” back with a story from Obama’s own book, where he, Obama, admits pushing a girl in middle school.  The book has been out for a long time.  The only people who are surprised by any of these revelations are wingnuts.

The  take away:  wingnuts are remedial readers, at best.

A Transformational President

It’s not just what he said today.  It’s everything about his presidency.

It’s recognizing just what Hillary and Tim Geithner could do.

It’s seeing so much of what Bill Clinton agreed to finally, slowly undone.

It’s Smart Power, not only abroad, but also in many ways, here at home.

I’m really proud of my president.  It’s been a long time since I have felt that way.

It’s still just sinking in.  A great man.  A great family.  I’m so proud.

BEETS!

It’s time to change out beds:

Here they are.  This bed will get peppers tomorrow.

An up=close picture!

The promised snack:  I had read about steaming beet greens and my all female upper level class are game to try it.  There were a few caterpillars chomping on the leaves, but I got enough good greens for a taste for our small class.

The beets.

I couldn’t get a good pic of them in the pot.  And those are bubbles.  Just as the water started boiling, I put the greens in a basket over the beets in the water.

I tasted a bite of the greens — they are like spinach in texture, but not stinky and taste sort of like beets.