Sunday, December 30, 2007

Funny Saying

My Sister Jennifer (her blog is here) has this funny saying at the bottom of her emails. I thought I would share it here:

"Some people are like slinkies...They aren't really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs."

Friday, December 28, 2007

Ethel dies: Robert and Curtis left petless


We came home the morning of the 27th after being gone for a few days. It was weird to not be greeted by Ethel, our female cat.

She was dead at the top of t
he staircase from unknown causes. We had left plenty of food and water out for Ethel, who has been left alone for several days before. Both looked untouched. Checking the litter box, it was evident that she had died shortly after we left. The day we left, she had been vomiting several times (much to my dismay). I thought she just had an upset stomach.

Needless to say, this has been a bad year for cats for us. Just a few posts down (click here), I recounted the discovery of Walter's dead body just down the street from my condo.

Just about a week ago, I also told the tale of how we got rid of Demi (click here in case you missed that). We went from three pets to zero pets in a very short time. Our house will be much cleaner and hairless.

Ethel was an extremely sweet cat with the most awesome disposition. She had zero destructive or bad habits. Curtis and I will miss her greatly.

There are no immediate plans to replace any of our dead felines.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Neat record of travel...


My friend Rick sent me this link that lets you select which states/provinces/countries you've been to and then see it on a map. Pretty neat. Here's mine - would love to see yours...

http://www.travbuddy.com/widget_map_display.php?id=2151758

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Demi Disappears!

Well, not really. Just another dubious headline to get you to read the rest of this post. During the past three months, Curtis and I have been trading Demi back and forth, like divorced people hand off kids for weekends. Demi had adjusted but still remains human-less for many hours at a time, as Curtis and I both lead very busy lives. To make matters worse, I have had a recruit for the past six weeks and my ten-hour work nights have often stretched into me being away for up to fifteen hours at a time. That's difficult for a crated dog.

Curtis and I decided that Demi would be better off with a family whose members were at home more often than we are. Now that we're re-united, we still aren't home that often and the Demi issue remained on our minds.

At work, I overheard one of my co-workers talking about wanted to get a smaller dog as a companion for his family and their 100-lb. lab, Cuervo. I asked if he's consider a beagle and he told me that his wife has always wanted a beagle. So on Sunday night, we met at Bridgeport Village and handed Demi off to my kind co-worker and his wife. Instantly, we felt relieved that we were free of late-night walks so Demi could relieve himself. No more expen$ive vet visits, Iams dog food, etc. I knew I would miss Demi's sweet face and persistent happiness.

On Tuesday morning, I got the following email from my co-worker:

Hey Rook. So I have some bad news. Demi and Cuervo DO NOT get along. Demi bit Cuervo within the first couple of minutes of meeting. He is not hurt so don't worry about that, actually I told Cuervo to stop being a bitch for yelping but that's just our relationship. I think they are having an "I am the alpha male, no I am the alpha male" issue. The are marking their territory all over the house to include my wife's foot. That was Cuervo. I just don't think we can handle these two like this. If we didn't have a baby I think it would be different but she takes a lot of our time and energy and I don't think we would be able to clean up after them. I am soooo sorry. We feel really bad because Demi is really sweet and he seems to like us. And he has those puppy dog eyes so I can't get mad at him but I think for our sanity and the well being of our house I don't think we can do it. I hate to put you in a pickle so if there is no one else that can watch him while you are gone we will try and manage but if there is anyway we can get him back to you that would be great. Again dude I am sooooo sorry. I feel really bad about this and I wish we could keep him. My wife said she is really sorry too. Let me know what you think. Again I am very very very sorry dude.
I met my co-worker at our office on Tuesday afternoon and took Demi back into custody. We realized that our normal pet-watchers were all out of town for the holidays. We knew we would have to pay to kennel Demi while we were gone or invest some time in getting him to a new family. The Craigslist ads started immediately, with Curtis and I both posting a version.

Beagles get lots of interest - I presume because they are so cute - but free beagles get LOTS of interest. I was in trial yesterday all day, so Curtis got to field calls. He took a call from a family in Hillsboro with a seven-tear-old boy. He put them ahead of a Lesbian couple with an unfenced yard in Vancouver.
The couple with the boy got moved to the top of the list. The mom, a grad student in education, came over with the kid last night. They took Demi for a sleepover. We're waiting to hear if they want to keep him or not. Their idea is to make Demi a shop dog for their karate dojo (sp?). For those of you who have met Demi, you might understand that we have our doubts.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Sherwood Police sergeant arrested in Portland

A Sherwood, Oregon Police sergeant was arrested for prostitution. Click here.

"God Only Knows"

I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would livin' do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would livin' do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would livin' do me
God only knows what I'd be without you...
---
This is the theme song for the HBO series Big Love that I have been enjoying lately. I have also found some personal meaning in it with the situation I have found myself in over the last few months. I have realized just how important the love I feel for that special person in my life is.