Tuesday, January 1, 2008

First Lines From My 2007 Rants

This was not my idea but it sounded kind of like some fun to me. I found the idea for it at Jungle Mom's site: The Jungle Hut. The idea is to write down the first lines of each of your first rants for each month in 2007. So here are mine in reverse chronological order:

Dec. 2007: The Irish Whiskey did not help. (My personal favorite, even if it was only a sip of it that I imbibed that prompted me to write that.)

Nov 2007: Too Bad He Apparently Does Not Read My Blog because his having done so may have saved him some holes in his legs, possibly being fired, and possibly being arrested.

Oct. 2007: Now here is a subject dear to my heart, the annual Long Island Herpetological Society Reptile (and amphibian) Expo.

Sept. 2007: Bloggers I read each and every day are listed over on the right, among the other bloggers to whom I link; but they are a bit special if only to me, and I read them on a daily basis.

Aug. 2007: It is amazing for me when I think back to my childhood, and remember what it was I wanted to grow up to be.

July 2007: Home again…the road trip is over, and that is too bad because it was a nice on.

June 2007: Prom night sounds like lots of fun, well for the kids.

May 2007: My Opinion on the 12 Million Illegal Aliens whom are estimated to be within the United States of America is that:

April 2007: For those of you who celebrate, have a happy Palm Sunday.

March 2007: Enjoying Some of The Finer Pleasures of Life is usually dependent upon one's income; but that does not mean that finer things are out of reach of those who don't make all that much.

February 2007: Great Britain has likely lost any hope of defeating Islamic terrorism on its own soil.

Jan. 2007: Here Is Wishing That You Enjoy a Happy and Safe New Year With Your Loved Ones


All the best,
Glenn B

Extra Money Should Equal A New Gun..

...or so I had presumed when I received some cash for Christmas. I had $250 in cash and a $40 gift card at Dick's Sporting Goods. I figured for sure I would buy myself a new rifle, but I am the great procrastinator and one of the worst squirrels around. I just do not know how to cache away my acorns in order to buy something later. Instead of saving I piss it away on all sorts of junk - maybe a bottle of spirits, or some sweets, or lunch out with the guys at work, or on stuff for the house, or whatever. The next thing I know and it is all gone. Well this time it is not all spent, at least not yet anyhow. I have about $200 if I spend it all at Dick's, and about $160 to spend elsewhere. That may not be much, but think I have another hundred or two somewhere else if I can find it. What a poor stash of cash for a married man.. Hopefully that will do to allow me to purchase something practical like a bolt action in .308. I am still thinking of a Mossberg or a Savage. If not one of them, then a military surplus rifle from one of the online vendors, something I can buy direct with my curios and relics license.

If I can make it until this coming weekend with the same amount of money, I will have to pay a visit to Dick's Sporting Goods to see what they have in the gun racks. If I spend any more of it before then, well I'll just have to go online and look for another SKS or a Mosin Nagant M44, or something like one of them. I just gotta save, gotta save, gotta save....

All the best,
Glenn B

Are You Hungover?

I feel almost great today despite the cold or whatever it is I have. Aches, pains, slight on and off again fever aside, I am not bothered by a hangover. kind of thought I would have had a few drinks last night, but I was feeling pretty lousy and sort of passed out on the futon while watching The Twilight Zone marathon. I don't know if that was good for me or not, I sort of think the alcohol would have had me sleep better than I did, and maybe even feel better this morning; but at least I did not wake up with a throbbing head and nausea. What about you my faithful readers, did you overdo it last night? If so, all I can wish you is a speedy recovery, and give you a goofball hangover cure. I think you just need the recovery, so I won't bother you with the recipe for my ineffectual cure which is basically a hair of the dog that bit you kind of a thing with some good quality gin added for attitude.

As for me and the wife, maybe we will enjoy some red wine with dinner tonight, and maybe tonight I can convince her to crack open the bottle of champagne I bought last year for new Year's Eve 2007. It has been in the fridge since then, and it is about time we drink it - don't you think!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Prognosis

Our Dachshund, Hexi came home from the veterinary clinic yesterday. Her prognosis for the long term is not great. She will, in all probability, never walk again on her hind legs. Now that she is home, the New Year will start, and continue, with her getting special care. Hexi can not walk at all right now, her front legs are not strong enough to drag her lard butted slightly overweight behind around. So we have to exercise her by walking her with a towel wrapped under her abdomen for support. We are using it like a sling for now, to support/hold up her rear. This way she can walk on her front legs with us holding up her back legs. This will be done until the dog cart we ordered arrives.

Luckily though the year ended on a fairly good note because her condition did not worsen, and we did not have to make a difficult decision about whether or not to put her down. What I mean is the decision was easy - we decided to buy her a cart to replace her hind legs so she can be mobile, and hopefully she will live many years to come in relative bliss. On the other hand, had her condition bettered or worsened the decision would have been much more difficult to make. So in a way, I am kind of relieved that she will be using the cart and not getting a back operation; but of course, I wish she never needed either one. In Hexi's case all sensation is gone - with zero to extremely little chance of any recovery - even with surgery. The back operation would have had some good chance of success but only if she had any feeling remaining in her hindquarters. The surgery would have cost over $5,000; heck the vet bills alone to date have been well over $1,000. The decision to have surgery performed on Hexi would have been difficult for at least two reasons, one that there was a chance it would not work or kill her, and the other that it would have just about wiped out any cash we have in the bank. The cart, which will give her much needed mobility, will go for $300 (plus shipping I think). That is a relief to our life's savings - the five grand would have just about wiped out our bank accounts; and it is a relief to the decision making process. If the vet would have said: 'There is hope of her walking again, but only 25%' - it would have been difficult not to have opted for the surgery and poverty but it would have been doable I think especially in light of the other option, that of the cart. Chances are we would have opted for the cart then too. Then again, if the vet had said there was a 50% chance of her regaining sensation, just imagine the difficulty in making the decision; and if he had said an 80% or more chance - I wonder if we would have taken it! It would have been a roll of the dice for us and her had we opted for surgery, with the dice heavily loaded against us; so as I said, the decision wound up being an easy one. Apparently though the decision for others would have been quite different, the vet said that he had to ask because some people would not opt to care for her but would rather have put her down had she been their dog. Sure, had she been expected to worsen, we would have chosen the same, but she is alert, in fairly good spirits, and apparently not in any pain. Thank goodness for that, the decision was easy - though I wish we never had to make the decision in the first place.

Well, as it stands, Hexi is going to need a lot of extra care. She has been with us only 7, or is it 8 years, since she was a little puppy. We all love her, and I although think the care will be time consuming each day, we will all do our best to care for her. Once the cart arrives, things should get easier. Right now we have to pick her up to bring her out to pee or poop. Thankfully the good old behind works on its own, but regrettably the faucet does not. We have to give her some squeezing to get her to pee, which I do not hesitate to say is much better than having to squeeze her to poop. My wife got squirted last night when she picked her up, I guess we have to be careful as to how we pick her up to avoid that in the future. Oh joy. I guess though it really is a joy, we would have been devastated had it turned out worse.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy New Year

To All of You,

Who enjoy the fruits of your lives through your labors, and who live by a generally accepted code of morality, who respect the laws of the land and of nature, who respect other people, who protect the innocent, who punish the bad, who can forgive when appropriate, who express common courtesy, who are in general nice people and who are decent folks - I wish you a Happy New Year.

To those of you who get your jollies by maltreating others, who are perverts, pedophiles, violent felons, career criminals, child beaters, radicals or extremists of any ilk, and the like - I do not procrastinate to prognosticate, that lest you change, in the end you will be screwed. Hence, allow me or another to screw you, please do not derive us the opportunity or the pleasure of doing so by screwing yourselves.

All the best,
Glenn B