New Camera Arrives Today

I finally got my new Canon camera today. The poor FedEx guy was here three times but couldn't leave the camera because nobody was home to sign for it. Yesterday I was only out of the house for an hour (at the dentist) and FedEx came while I was gone. Anticipating that would happen, I left a note for the delivery guy to let him know I was letting him off the hook and he could leave my camera at the FedEx office and that I would make the 30-mile journey to pick it up.

Long... boring... verbose... yea, I know. I've used up all my creative juices preparing for a meeting with Google tomorrow. And, after tomorrow, I'll be starting every conversation with, "I've met with an actual Google employee, and thanks for asking, but no I'm not giving out autographs today." It's hard to explain, but try to imagine meeting with the most important person or company in your line of business and you can see where I'm coming from.


So, back to my camera. I had some photos on my card when the old camera broke so tonight was my first opportunity to transfer them onto my computer. Here's a cute one of Spike helping me hand out candy on Halloween.



And, here's a photo I took of the cup holders in a Saturn car I rented recently. Yes, both Diet Cokes are mine -- 12 ounces isn't enough to get me from South Bend to Chicago.

Anyway, I can't figure out what the Micky Mouse-shaped hole is for. It's too small for a water bottle or a cell phone. Any ideas???


MYSTERY SOLVED

I popped over to Saturn.com and saw they had a live chat feature. I love live chat customer service on the web -- instant satisfaction. So, the nice Saturn customer service rep (Marianne is most likely a made-up name because I'm pretty sure these reps are in India), told me that the mickey mouse-shaped cut out in the cup holder area is actually ....

a change holder!


\

Here in Elkhart County Leaf Burning is Still Legal

Spike Loves Grandma

We had Grandma over for dinner this evening. It was nice for us to take a break from the fall chore list. And, it was a relief for her to get out of the institution for an outing that didn't involve a trip to a medical facility.

After dinner and pumpkin pie, she snuggled with Spike for a bit. He had been a little miffed that after all of his begging during dinner, the only handout from Grandma was a dry little piece of pie crust. And, it didn't even have Cool Whip on it.

Spikes Loves Sarah Palin

Random Spikness

Spike had quite a bit of fun chasing this little toad out of his lush, yet overgrown, grass into the dead grass on the neighbor's side of the driveway.

Spike noticed people food just lying there on the ground, free for the taking. But, he was a bit hesitant to try it since Grandma wasn't around. He's not sure why, but the only time he's allowed to eat people food is when it comes to him under the table from Grandma Iris' hands.

After losing his squeaky bone in the grass, Spike begged "daddy" to fire up the lawn mower

Trip to the Vet Ends with Ice Cream

Spike had to go to the Vet this evening to find out why he's leaking. For the bargain price of $199.20, he received a urinalysis, a probe in an area where things should only come out and never go in, a blood test with a big scary needle and two prescriptions.

To reward him for being such a brave little guy, I took him to the FrosTop (my generic name for every little ice cream shop) and bought him the doggie treat special. We walked across the street to the park and I sat the bowl on the grass and waited for him to discover it on his own.

~~~ He found it, but wasn't quite sure what it was. ~~~

~~~ Yummy ~~~

Bruce Makes a Friend at Northstar Pet Resort

Spike spent a few days at Northstar Pet Resort while we were out of town this weekend. Our usual kennel, Odd Acres in Osceola, was totally booked so we had to drive across the county and pay twice as much to board him at "luxury acres".

The daily rates aren't too bad at Northstar at $16, but they get you with the a la carte guilt menu.

Puppy Play Time: $4 per day

Evening Ice Cream Snack: $2.50 per day


Luxury Suite with TV: $Arm & Leg

Spike Cam

I sometimes wonder what Spike does while I'm at work.

I've considered setting up a web cam, but I suspect the show would be fairly boring.

For 7 hours and 45 minutes, the web cam would probably show me this view.

For the other 15 minutes, it would show something like this.

That Dog is Fluffy

Spike visited the Dog Gone Good dog groomers on Ash Road in Osceola today for a spa treatment.

I had cut most of the paint out of his fur from last weekend's painting mishap, but there was still paint on his ear that I couldn't get off.

The dog groomer not only got all of the paint out of his fur, but also trimmed his toenails, made him smell terrific and gave him this dapper tie.

Spike Wants to Play

We had a houseful of friends over this evening for a card party.

While the gals played euchre and "Screw Your Neighbor", the guys played poker.

Poor Spike couldn't get into either game.

So Spoiled

How many dogs do you know that sleep on five pillows???

As the thunderstorm started rolling in tonight, Spike ran upstairs and hid under the bed. We talked him out and got him to come back downstairs and now, as I type this, he's laying on my lap... between me and the keyboard.

Spike Loves Popcorn

As I was enjoying a large bag of popcorn, watching a movie on TV, Spike was right there, waiting for his handout.

Back when we had two dogs, Spike and Tyler, I used to play the popcorn game with them.

Both of them would stand in front of me and I'd throw one kernel of popcorn at each dog and continue until one of them missed. Sometimes they could keep it up until they ate all of the popcorn, leaving none for me.

Tennis Anyone?

Spike had fun playing with his new tennis ball in the snow today.

When the ball disappeared, Spike found he really likes the taste of fresh snow.

How Much Longer Until Summer?

We woke to a fresh layer of snow today.

It didn't start snowing until about 11am, but since we're on vacation this week, we slept in.

Spike's Road Trip

Cousin Dozer invited Spike to come down to Indianapolis for Christmas dinner with the whole family.

Spike was pretty excited because his normal road trips end at either the vet or the kennel.

We took a pit stop near Peru at the Grissom Air Museum where Spike and Bruce were able to check out this 1950s T-2C Buckeye Navy plane.



Spike also liked the YS-11.

Spike Relaxes by the Fire

After playing in the snow, Spike needed to warm up his frozen paws by the fire.

Spike is not amused

Yesterday's snowfall was the first to stick and accumulate this season. Clearly, Spike is not amused.

I tried to get him to wear those doggie snow boots one winter. He did the high step for a while and then chewed them off.

Happy Halloween from FrankenSpike

Happy Halloween everyone. Don't you just love my costume.

Here's a version with one red contact lens and one green one.


I've been feeling much better lately and wanted to thank everyone for their words of encouragement while I was sick.

Spike The Wonder Dog Not Feeling Well

Spike has been hanging out in his safe place, behind the sofa, under the desk. Still not feeling well.

A couple of weeks ago, we started smelling urine in the house. We bought a black light to track down the source of the odor and soon discovered more than one location that Spike had confused with a fire hydrant.

Such un-Spike-like behavior led to a series of vet appointments and a diagnosis of a kidney infection, medicine and prescription dog food.

Now Spike is used to eating Mighty Dog, which is a soft, dry food and about the only kind of dry food that he can eat, due to his bad teeth. So, as soon as we opened the first can of Science Diet K/D, he was all over it. Really smelly, moist and apparently delicious.

Then, Saturday morning he didn't want to get out of bed. I encouraged him to join me outside and he moved very slowly and when we came back in, he went immediately to his safe place under the desk. He laid around whimpering most of the morning while we tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Moving slow, stomach as hard as a rock, warm nose, panting. Many different Google searches lead us to believe he had a severe stomach problem -- maybe even bloat. OMG... was this our fault by letting him gorge on the juicy and delicious K/D food??? But a call to the Animal Emergency Clinic talked us back off of the ledge. Since he wasn't retching, it wasn't bloat.

Throughout the weekend, he had no interest in food, but we made sure that he drank plenty of water and we kept walking him around outside until he did his business. We wanted to make sure whatever was going on inside him wouldn't come exploding out inside the house.

Since Spike couldn't make it up the steps in his feeble condition, I slept downstairs so I would be sure to hear him when he started crying during the night. It was so sad and I felt so helpless.

Monday we got him back to the vet and I was sure the vet was going to tell us there was nothing he could do to help Spike. But, the prognosis, although serious and sad, was not at all what we expected. Spike hurt his back. We knew he had arthritis in his back and he's been on pain pills in the past when he sprained it. But, since he hadn't been eating and his stomach seemed to be distended, it never occurred to us that he was having back pain.

The x-ray showed that two sets of two of his vertebrae have fused and two others were distressed. The vet was quick to give Spike a shot of pain medication and another shot of muscle relaxant. He said that, with time and rest, the inflammation that is causing the pain will subside. And, he sent us home with pain and anti-inflammatory meds and advised us against encouraging exercise.

The really good news in all of this is that we didn't reach the $500 vet bill threshold which, in the past, has been the bill that came with the news that there was nothing more that could be done to help our beloved pets (Tyler and LBK). Our total with Spike was just under $450.

Happy Dog

Spike (also known as Skippy to our friends in Evansville) enjoyed an afternoon in the tall grass while I worked from the patio office. He looks pretty good for a dog that's nearly 15.