Category: photo

Vet

Cooper survived his first vet visit last week since coming to live with me. I’ve been putting it off as long as I could to avoidcoopervet the anxiety I thought it would cause him. He got left at a animal shelter/hospital and I was worried he would think the same thing was happening all over again. Dogs have long memories and bullies are especially known for theirs.

Cooper knew the moment I opened the door where we were. Be it the smell, the look, or a combo of both he immediately got anxious. He kept getting between my legs while I was walking and would occasionally whine. While we were sitting in the waiting area he refused to sit anywhere but partially laying on top of me. I soothed, petted, and reassured him with a loving tone in the hopes he would understand. I was almost in tears at the very idea that he thought I could leave him. To this day, it is beyond me how anyone could abandon an animal capable of so much unconditional love.

Anyway, to his credit he did better than I expected. While very much on his guard, he calmed down after we got in the vet’s office and he got treats and attention. Having done such a good job with Spike, I figured I could trust the SPCA clinic with Cooper’s care. He has had some reoccurring skin infections and I needed an expert opinion. I put it off as long as I could but it was time.

Anyway, I explained to the vet why he was anxious and she immediately begin to help sooth and calm him down. She rubbed him and got him to touch her with his paws, which is usually a dog’s way of showing trust. I’m continually impressed with the veterinary services offered by our local SPCA. They do such a wonderful job. The vet was very thorough with her questions for me and her examination of him.  She wasn’t rushed, answered my questions, and had obviously treated a bulldog before as she ruled out a couple different brands of meds right away.

In the end, she prescribed some antibiotics for his skin infection. We both thought his skin problems were related to his allergies. I’ve since put him back on Benadryl at a slighter higher dose, hence the picture of him almost zonked out. lol  I took him off of it originally as I didn’t know what effects, if any, it might have on him. The vet said he could tolerate it w/no problems and it would help keep him from getting reinfected. Bullies are often prone to skin problems so it wasn’t a surprise for either of us. I also got his heartworm meds refilled. While he doesn’t spend much time with other dogs, I still want to prevent him from ever getting heart worms. It is very hard to get rid of after the fact vs 1 pill a month prevention.

As for taking his meds, well that has presented a challenge. Normally, I just use the pill snacks, which is just a little treat hollowed out so you can insert a pill. The antibiotics must give off a smell because he absolutely will not eat them. Knowing how much he loves cheese, I wrapped his meds up in a small piece and he gobbled them down right away. Problem solved. hehehe

I took the day off from work and spent the rest of the day with him. I was kinda having a headache already so it worked out. He got to nap in the bed with him while I napped. We went to the park for a romp and I generally spent a lot of time showing him affection. By bedtime, he was perfectly settled down again.

I’m hoping next time we have to go to the vet he won’t associate it as a bad thing anymore.  

Return

Well, it’s been a week of fun and mayhem with Trev and Mikey. Now it’s Monday and time to return to reality. lol It was great seeing both of them. We had a blast! The picture links to an album that includes a few shots I took over the course of our week together.

Pride was fun. The boys arrived the day before. I didn’t snap that many pics as I had forgotten to charge my phone battery the night before and was running low on juice. The boys opted for stadium seating but even then we could only sit still for a couple hours before moving on to the fair. Pride night we went to a Tea dance party at Ruby Skye. I’d never been inside and the place was gorgeous. The music was pretty good as well. [1]Dance music with actual words!  They opted for another later party but Mr Moby was tuckered out and headed home. I’m such a lightweight.

Having not ever been here together before, the boys wanted to do the typical tourist stuff (The things I do for friends. lol j/k). As much as I usually hate doing touristy stuff, I had fun. It was very bearable mostly because we did everything during the week when most folks are working. 

Alcatraz was our first stop during the week of post Pride festivities. I hadn’t been since right after I moved to SF and it was totally different. I guess over the years they’ve changed how the tours go. I thought I was gonna be bored but to my surprise, I wasn’t at all. The gardens were in full bloom and the weather was warm w/o being hot.

Next on our journey was Muir Woods (the big redwood trees). I never get tired of seeing the redwoods. Such massive trees and so few left. We snapped a few pics to show the sheer size of the enormous plants. We took a tour bus group up. The driver driveled on constantly with tedious details but we tuned him out. lol Naturally, we sat in the back of the bus! The weather was warm and sunny so it was a very nice trip. On the way back we stopped off in Sausalito. We took the opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat while the rest of the tour group was sight-seeing. We had fish & chips at a place on the strip. 

The next day was a slow unscripted trip to the Wharf on Pier 39. This place is tourist central and I usually avoid it like the plague. Again, being the middle of the week helped. We did the whole experience and took the cable car from the hood all the way down. I figured it we were gonna be tourists might as well go whole-hog. We saw the seals, checked the shops, had some delicious clam chowder, and just walked the area. We had considered taking the trolley car home but the line was easily an hour wait. No thanks.

Our last big day of planned festivities was a trip up to Napa to visit wine country and partake in some wine-tasting. Again the weather was great albeit a tiny bit on the hot side. Napa is gorgeous this time of year. Our tour included 4 vineyards with a tour and wine-tasting session at each. In a nutshell, the Robert Mondovi Vineyard was the best. The Andretti Vineyard [2]yes, the same as the race car driver was the worst. The staff  were rude, snobbish, and the wines were awful. I do not recommend it at all. The Ménage a Trios Vineyard gets a special mention for having the best wines.  Needless to say, we got a little tipsy. The pic above was taken at the Franciscan, our last stop on the tour before heading home.

We also went out a few nights during the week for cocktails. lol We got totally sloshed at 440 one night. The bartender knew me and kept giving us drinks and shots. Needless to say, we had fun. Of course, we had have some late night pizza slices to soak up all the booze. Lord, I’ll need to invest in some cardio for a couple weeks.

So it was a good vacation. It was good to see the boys and having them here really cheered me up. I didn’t realize how much I missed them. We all promised to not let it go so long next time before we see each other. On a side note, Cooper loved all the extra attention. Sadly, he started peeing on the carpet again. We had a couple come-to-jesus conversations and he is back on the path. Today, it’s back to gym and work. After all, one can only avoid reality for so long. lol

References

References
↑1 Dance music with actual words!
↑2 yes, the same as the race car driver

Neglect

dorky pic of me in the gym one day

In my previous ramble about fitness and the gym, I’ve gotten in the habit of neglecting my lower body. Cardio is all but non-existent these days. lol I don’t have bird legs or anything but I’ve been incorporating more lower body exercises into my routines again. This is good for obvious reasons but it also motivates me to get into the gym that extra day every week when I would normally tend to blow it off. You can only push your muscles so far so fast. They need time to recover. So now having more muscles to work means extra time in da gym while allowing other muscles to recover…a win win!

I’ve also been hitting my glutes over the last couple weeks. Let me tell you they are sore as hell! I worked’em on Monday and I’m still effin’ sore today. [1]One-leg lunges using the smith-machine are da bomb-diggity! Oy vey, they hurt! I feel like powerbottom brettcajun after an all night orgy.

Anyway, I’m seeing results. I’m sad to say I’d let my glutes get a little less than plump in the last couple years. But, they are bouncing back nice and proper now. hehehe Next on the agenda are my calves. I want 3″ on those bad boys! My calves used to be one of my best features [2]get your minds out of my gutter bitches back in the day. They haven’t shrunk, I just haven’t been keeping them in check with the rest of my growth.

If you see an updated on twitter or Google+ with me yelling, “I’ve fallen and can’t get up”, you know I overdid it one day. lol

References

References
↑1 One-leg lunges using the smith-machine are da bomb-diggity!
↑2 get your minds out of my gutter bitches

Over

MeI’ve been hitting the gym pretty hard lately even with my crazy work schedule. I think I overdid it this last week though. Thursday, I started feeling achy and run down at work. I was afraid I was getting sick. That night I tossed and turned all night from achiness so ended up not getting much sleep. [1]Apple guy neglected to mention he’d taken the last of the Ambien. *ahem*

Friday rolls around, I’m feeling less achy but exhausted from lack of sleep and developed a lovely migraine. Joygasm! I got some stomach problems as well so maybe it was a combination of both. I called off from work and literally laid on the couch all day relaxing. I napped off/on until about dinner when I finally dragged my carcass out of the house for some dinner. Feeling a tiny bit better but still achy my stomach was demanding food. lol I ended up having sushi with my buddy Nikitas. Probably not the best choice considering but it hit the spot.

Saturday, I’m feeling almost like my old self again. The stomach is returning to normal and the achiness had abated. I didn’t have a sore throat or fever so I figure maybe I was just worn down.

Ironically, I feel totally guilty for not being in the gym. lol Lately, I’ve been trying to hit the smaller non-primary muscles that I often neglect. I think they decided to fight back. Anyway, if you’ve been following me on Google+, you’ve already seen my latest pics. I included one to show off my had work. How do ya think I’m doing?

 

References

References
↑1 Apple guy neglected to mention he’d taken the last of the Ambien. *ahem*

Trip

I’m back from Houston. I went down for a long weekend to help my friend Trevan. He had to go in for a minor back surgery and needed some help getting up and around for a few days.

I ended up flying Southwest this time around. Of course, I’d forgotten I was flying out of Oakland instead of SFO until the morning of. I always seem to forget that when taking BART to Oakland, you have to get off and take a shuttle for the last 3 miles. It sounds simple but often this little detour adds 20-30 mins to your commute. Having to leave a bit early, naturally I didn’t allow for said additional delay and ended up being rushed the whole damn way!

As luck would have it, things went exceptionally smooth. Even though MUNI had experienced an earlier backup, they were clearing as I got to the station. Getting onto BART was equally smooth. The hiccup came when I got to the airport stop and had forgotten the shuttle. Not to mention the shuttle doesn’t take my clipper card. [1]Mass transit card that works on several different trains in the bay area. By the time I got to the the airport it was 30 minutes to my flight departure. That means my flight was boarding. I only had one bag to check and already had my boarding pass so only had to get the bag sorted and get thru security. Everyone was so nice when I asked if I could move thru the line. Not one person was contrary or rude when I asked if I could move in front of them in line so I wouldn’t miss my flight.

I ran the concourse to get there just as the B group was starting to board. I even managed to snag an aisle seat! The flight was pretty full but entertaining because an amateur baseball league was headed to College Station to compete and there was no shortage of hotties! One ended up sitting right next to me. heehee Straight as all hell but we cut up an laughed the whole way to Houston. [2]The several cocktails didn’t hurt.

The visit went fine. Trevan had come home earlier that morning from the hospital and was resting comfortably. It was good to see him. We couldn’t run around like we normally do obviously. I hadn’t really planned on anything exciting anyway. Sunday before I left, Trevan was getting a little stir-crazy so we had lunch out and met up with my buddy Darrel. By the time it came for me to leave, he was getting up/down by himself and doing much more stuff solo. He still has to wear the brace for 30 full days but I left not worrying about him.

I did get one welcome surprise though. TFA had a lay-over in Houston so I got to see him too! I haven’t seen him a couple years now and it was awesome to see him and catch up a bit, albeit briefly.

Coming home was a tad exciting. One, I didn’t realize I was flying home on 9.11. That had me nervous because I never underestimate the power of stupidity in the group setting. I got to the airport way earlier just in case. It was actually kinda slow. Everything went smoothly until someone set off the fire alarm. I’d just sat down and plugged in my computer when it went off. At first people were bewildered on what to do. When the automated voice said, “begin exiting the concourse“, everyone started moving. Luckily, our gate agent had the wherewithal to think it over and told us to wait. Then came the battling announcements from the airport proper on what we should do. One minute a male voice is telling us not to worry its a false alarm and the next minute a female voice is telling us to exit the concourse. Once again, our gate agent told us to sit tight. After about 10 minutes, it was determined to be a false alarm. This was after quite a few people from other gates had made a mass-exodus back to the front of the terminal oooh-weeee! They were pissed! They all had to go back thru security. There were quite a few gate announcements for people being called by name. I’d have totally been pissed myself.

On the flight, I got an exit row so had room to stretch. Oddly enough, I ended up next to the acting Chief of the Oakland Fire Dept. lolol She was very nice and gave me two free coupons for cocktails. 🙂 The rest of the flight was pretty smooth. There was one point where we were flying over a thunderstorm. I don’t think I’ve actually ever done that. Watching the lightening from above was kinda cool.

Anyway, I’m glad to be home. I missed my beloved SF. If you want, you can check out a few random pics from my Google Plus feed.

References

References
↑1 Mass transit card that works on several different trains in the bay area.
↑2 The several cocktails didn’t hurt.

Howwie

Is me again. I’m sneaking onto the square box thing while daddy is sleeping. I still don’t understand it but my translator used to seem reawwie busy when I yipped at the bright square flippy thing . . . I think he called it a “scween”.  My translator left the other day. Daddy said he was “raptued” or something like dat. You’ll have to pawdon my spelling, I’m not a vewwie good speller. Daddy has been reawwie proud of me lately. He says I’ve  been extra special good. Even when we walk to the stoe w/o my leash on. [1]Oh ssshh, I’m not supposed to tell that. My other daddy doesn’t like it when I walk w/o my leash on.  Ewyway, my daddy has been wowwied about me. I’m approaching my ninth birfday and my age is starting to catch up with me. Don’t wowwie, nothing is wrong yet, Daddy just likes to wowwie. He notices I can’t run as much as I used to and I get a little tired sometimes real early. Daddy tries to give me a good walk every few days to keep me stwong and limber. When I get tired from my wawks I just take a break for a few days until I’ve regained my stwength. I like long naps. I curl up in my bed, I snore a lot and bury my face in my pillow to block out the sun. On really bwight days I put my paws up over my face to help keep the light out. I sometimes remember how to actually bark when I sweep. I can yip but barking is reawwie hard. When I’m sleeping, I have dreams of chasing birds and cats and I bark in my sleep. Its twue! Just ask my Daddy.  Ewyway, I told Daddy not to wowwie about me. I get lots of love and attention and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

I think I like this box thing. It glows pretty colors and seems not to gunk up when I slobber on it. I’m not allowed to chew on it though. I would get in awot of trouble if I did that. Daddy found a new treat for me the other day at some place called Waw-gweens. Its got something called healthy gwanola on the outside and a hard chewy bone on the inside. Its my new fwavorite treat! I slobber and lick all the crunchy stuff off then I bite, chomp, and chew on the boney part till its nice and soft and I swallow it. I’m not supposed to hurry but I get es’ited and I sometimes choke. I try not to choke cause Daddies gets reawwie mad when I barf on my bedding.

I’m tired now so I’m gawna say goow night now. Ya’ll don’t tell that I was on the shiny box thing again ok? High paw!

Dawgs rule!

Spike

References

References
↑1 Oh ssshh, I’m not supposed to tell that. My other daddy doesn’t like it when I walk w/o my leash on.

Progress

From the pic you can see I’m on the mend. Actually, if you look closely, you can still see the broken bone. What you can’t see is all the little splinter pieces he had to move around and position properly so they’d grow back. I didn’t actually know they left the splinters in. I just assumed they would take’em out and the bone would grow back. Not so, the splinters will actually reattach to the bone and grow back to normal.

I’m already back at work on modified duty. [1]Four hour shifts  Everyone is shocked and amazed I’m already out of a arm sling and back at work. Of course, if I was just letting the bone heal on its own I would still have my arm in the sling. It takes 6-8 weeks for the bone to heal up. The metal plate actually takes a lot of pressure off the bone so I’m able to do more faster.

I was a little surprised the day of the accident how many coworkers were checking in on me. Knowing the crews that showed up, they were getting bombarded by terminal messages from my co-workers.  Seeing the call history at work made me understand, it sounds way worse than it was. It also shows how everyone sees something different. I was actually the first call into work regarding my accident but several other people called in as well. One person stated I was run over by a vehicle and trapped under it. lol [2]When I went down, it was in a parking lane and I slid into a parked vehicle. My bike actually wedged itself under the vehicle a bit. 

Anyway, I can’t do everything yet but most daily mediocre tasks are fine. I stretch it every day to help get the range of motion back. I’m about 75% there so far. There are definitely angles that are still difficult. The wound itself is healing very nicely albeit a bit tender.  Today was the first morning I woke up in no pain at all, another good sign.  I go back to the doctor mid December. If everything is ok then he will release me to start working out (pushing weights) again. I’m probably starting back on cardio this next week. I’ve gained a few lbs and need to start working it off. And don’t forget Thanksgiving is just around the corner. lol

A big thanks to everyone who checked in on me. I got emails, messages, comments, etc and I greatly appreciate it. To answer questions, yes I’ll be getting another bike.  I’m just waiting on the insurance people to give me my payoff information. I’m hoping to get another gixxr and my shop is already looking for one for me!

References

References
↑1 Four hour shifts
↑2 When I went down, it was in a parking lane and I slid into a parked vehicle. My bike actually wedged itself under the vehicle a bit.

Smash

In case you missed it, I got into a motorcycle accident this week, 6 blocks from home I might add. The picture is a fuzzy version of my left [1]Ironically, the last accident I broke the right one shoulder wound. Pretty bruises huh? 

I was headed to work on my bike. I’m cruising along when the guy in front of me signals he is going to turn left. No biggie, I’m on his right side and continue on my merry way. Well, that is until he suddenly veers to the right and directly in my path. I attempted to swerve around him but it was too late. He made contact w/some part of my bike knocking my back tire around at an odd angle. Still moving ,I try to recover but quickly see that’s not going to happen. As luck would have it, not only did I go down but I slid up under a parked mini-van. Unlike the last accident, there was no momentarily black out or forgotten consciousness. I, in true Southern fashion, jumped up swearing like a sailor. The guy immediately denied he had his blinkers on. This doesn’t explain why he was turning, either direction, nor does it explain why he felt the need to run over and turn on his hazard lights before the police arrived.

Anyway, as soon as I stood up I knew my collarbone was broken. It had that all too familiar ‘bump’ to it that I had the last time. A quick self-check and I can’t find any other serious injuries. I called Apple guy [2]repeatedly, as shitty AT&T kept dropping my calls to him.  I then called work to have them send help. Naturally, several people I work with showed up and added to my embarrassment. I knew several of the officers as well as two of the medics. Color me embarrassed but glad of their assistance. Apple guy met me at the hospital and sat with me thru the x-rays. Lord only knows what I was saying but apparently, one nurse bumped me and I said “some things” to her. I was high on drugs and things are a little fuzzy.

I saw the specialist today. I have a broken left clavicle, a displaced shoulder joint, and a torn rotator cuff. I’m scheduled for surgery this next Thursday. They’ll put a plate on the left collarbone just like the right one and do some minor stitching on my rotator cuff. I’m eagerly awaiting the surgery as this sitting around w/a broken bone shifting under the skin every time I move is for the fucking birds! Don’t even get me started on the havoc it has caused w/our sleeping arrangement. Ugh!

I don’t know the status of my bike yet. My poor blue beast didn’t look so hot wedged under the mini-van but I am hoping for the best. I really love that bike and I’d hate to lose it. Yes, I’m more upset over the bike being damaged than I am my own injuries. On top of it all, I had literally just switched insurance companies. I can only imagine how happy they are with me right now. Oh well, wasn’t like I planned it or anything. If you’ve ever had a broken bone, you know its not something you look forward to.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and support. I’m just sitting at home until Thursday driving poor Apple guy nuts. Gifts, cash, and random visits bearing free food are appreciated. lolol  Just kidding of course.  I’m on the mend and thanks to modern pharmacology, I’m getting by w/o too much pain. I’ll update w/more details on my bike as I get’em.

References

References
↑1 Ironically, the last accident I broke the right one
↑2 repeatedly, as shitty AT&T kept dropping my calls to him.