PatC

Exactly one year ago, I discovered what a great resource this community has in our local hospital when my brain decided to take its little vacation. Now, I'm doing fairly well --- some minor memory problems (street names are still a bit of a chore to remember and I discovered while watching the latest Harry Potter movie that my entire recollection of the book was gone...) Needless to say, I'm incredibly grateful that nothing of any great significance is gone; what minor problems I have with feeling and coordination on my right side are annoying but are nothing compared with what could have been...

Of course, what the policy actually is (as opposed to what the AFA is saying to whip up the righteous indignation of its members) quite sensibly says that the honor guard provided by the VA shouldn't inject their own religious views without permission of the mourners.

One of my daily enjoyments is snacking on a handful of cashews... The therapy comes into play in the fact that I am using chopsticks....

We had a huge crop of spring violets all over the back yard this year, so I held off on mowing so we could enjoy them as long as possible. Then my father-in-law passed away so we had to head back to New York for a week. Then we had a couple of weeks of rain which severely cut into the time available for yard work. I managed to find time between showers to run the mower over the front yard a few days ago and wound up with the drive belt for the wheels jammed. (I've got a new belt ordered, but it'll take a while to get here, so I'm using the mower as a straight push mower..) Also, the back yard really won't wait another week (the dogs have been complaining about getting lost in the jungle, lately!)

Wishbone is a dalmatian of a different color. The most common color scheme is black and white, followed by the other recognized color, liver and white. Wishbone has transcended the 'common' dalmatian colors and sports a lemon/white combination that makes him highly unique... His story is not all that uncommon --- his original owners basically never did that much with him (they were aghast at the thought of actually walking him on a daily basis). While they lived in Georgia, there were apparently no problems, but once they moved to Chicago, Wishbone didn't get along with the kids' new friends (my guess is that said new friends probably deserved whatever aggression he was displaying, but that's just me...). Anyway, going for the quick fix, his owners had him neutered and expected his personality to radically and immediately change. Needless to say, if didn't and they were still unwilling to do any training or pay attention to him so they decided to have him put down. Fortunately for Wishbone (and us), his vet suggested that they relinquish him to a rescue group, instead. He spent a little over a year in a few foster homes and, eventually met us. Wishbone took to our walking routine (1 1/2 to 2 mile walks once or twice a day) like he'd never heard of anything so much fun! Unfortunately, he was still acting a little aggressive and we were really afraid he'd bite and seriously injure somebody. Since people tend to turn off their common sense when the see a dog with spots, we couldn't depend on them leaving Wishbone alone just because we asked them to so we scheduled him for basic obedience classes. Anyway, he enjoys going to 'school' and took well to the training and extra attention so we upped the ante a little and started working towards his CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certificate. After more than a year of classes, I managed to schedule a CGC evaluation for Wishbone on the 9th of August, 2010 (he was actually ready quite a bit earlier, but there are a limited number of evaluators available around here. Unfortunately for these plans, my body had other plans and I was hit with my stroke on the 4th of August which meant that I was stuck in the hospital when his scheduled evaluation time arrived.... To make a long story short, we FINALLY managed to connect with the CGC evaluators and Wishbone has finally received his certificate and ribbon! It was a little tougher standing for exam in the mall, rather than in the comfortable environment of his usual training facility, but he behaved remarkably well and thoroughly enjoyed himself!

It is rather amazing --- if not a little scary to think they've got us so well profiled that they can detect "abnormal" charges so fast!

We were about to go out and take care of a few things ---- new laser printer toner, new television, etc. Phone rang. Didn't recognize the number so I let the answering machine get it --- caller left a message telling us there was a problem with our credit card and left a call back number. I don't really trust calls like that, so we called the number on the card to discover that, indeed, there were some unauthorized charges made lately. Oh well, they're sending a new card by express mail so we'll defer the toner and tv until the new card arrives tomorrow... (we could just pay via check, but it's nice to get a few cents back from the credit card company...)

Looks like we're about to join the lcd, flatscreen revolution, finally. I know it's probably just a loose connection inside and should be easy to fix, but without the right test equipment and schematics, I'd have to pay somebody else to fix it and that would cost more than a new set.... Of course, the other alternative is to just not replace it and find something else to occupy the evening hours.

Today was our monthly stroke support group meeting. I can't help but feel guilty for the way it makes me so grateful that I was a good candidate for tpa therapy and got to the hospital as quickly as I did.. I'm not 100% back to normal, yet, but I'm walking without a cane, driving, and generally doing quite well. I do have some memory problems and am not quite as quick, mentally, as I used to be, but am improving all the time and expect to continue that improvement

Greetings! You're doing remarkably well and you will continue to improve with time and mental exercise. I know how frustrating it can be when your brain doesn't react the way you expect it to (in my case, I lost the names of all of the streets in and around my neighborhood, among other things). It does take time to recover and you're going to be frustrated in the process. It sounds like you've got a terrific boss and employer --- concentrate on them when the less empathetic (and ignorant) co-workers start to get under your skin. Remember, too, that it's only been 2 months since your brain experienced a fairly traumatic event ("minor" is only a comparative term...) and it's re-learning how to work around the damaged area. I'll bet you're going to be able to forgo the cane in another month or two, too...

Believe it or not, this is my first foray into Blog-dom. (it's especially ironic considering that I founded the very first local ISP in this part of the state some 15 years ago....) Anyway, I've been trying to establish a pet photography business around here and got a little sidetracked some 6 months ago. It's still a little hard to manage the camera and get the timing right with my right hand not quite up to snuff. It's also a little hard to get down on the ground for the low angle shots I like to play with... Thought I'd share a couple of today's shots just for the heck of it... Wishbone's almost 10 years old and is a lemon colored dalmatian that came to us a couple of years ago when his former owners did some things that triggered behavior problems and didn't have the patience or desire to fix the situation. His favorite activities are sleeping, eating and going to school (he really enjoys his weekly lessons with all of his friends at "Mutterly Love"). This is Jester. He's 3 years old and may have been a bird in a former life (he's the inspiration for the name "Flying Spots Photography"). His favorite activities include playing, snuggling and flying.