From the Archives

This picture was taken on June 11. I hadn't posted it before now because it was really washed out by the flash. But I really liked the pose so I tried a little Photoshop magic on it. I hope it's not too noticable.

I still miss Spot an incredible amount, but I'm sure glad I finally bought a digital camera last year. I have many pictures of the old boy that I probably won't ever share with anyone (especially the ones from his last days), but I have them. They both comfort me and make me sad all over again. I guess that's to be expected, though...

Maggie's confused by this "mouse" thing...

Rest in peace, buddy...

he's gone

6:10PM, August 1, 2006

Another update

Well, I suppose some of you may be wondering what's going on with my dear old cat, Spot. In short, he's still with me. He's still mobile and seems to be able to go where he wants.

I took the problem of his lack of eating into my own hands by feeding him with a syringe. He doesn't enjoy it much, but he's eaten more in the past three days than he had the entire week before. Perhaps because of this, he doesn't seem to have declined as quickly as I expected.

Before any of you say anything, I'm not fooling myself. I know that he will be gone soon, but I take whatever little victories (and time with him) that I can. If he wants to lay on a pillow and purr as I pet him, I'm taking it as a bonus.

As I read that last paragraph, I feel I must admit that I do take a few moments several times a day to believe that healing is possible. I know that may seem weird, but I believe that with God, anything is possible, even this. I don't think it's probable (and most of the time I prepare myself for the inevitable), but, as I said, for a few minutes...for as long as I can muster...I believe he will get better.

Please don't think less of me.

"What a crappy week"

I said that this evening to my Dad at supper. But as I look back, obviously the situation with Spot has been front and center on my mind most of the time. However, I have had more time with him than I expected (and it has been mostly quality time), so that's not so bad. In addition, my two kittens, Mickey and Maggie, went to the vet to be "Barker-ized" and came through their surgeries in fine shape. Even a project at work (for which I am responsible) was successful. In other words, my feeble management skills didn't screw up the people doing the real work.

So, there have been some successes amongst the extreme heartache.

And that, my dear friends, is the last I am going to write about this until the situation changes. There are some other subjects that I feel lead to write about that I plan to start soon.

Life must go on, after all. Even if it seems a little bit emptier.

Hanging in, but not much hope

Well, the news from the vet wasn't good. My poor kitty's pancreas and kidneys are shutting down and most likely by the end of the week he will be gone.

I can't tell you how much this hurts. At least with Ferrari and Cymbah I had months to be prepared. This has come on very suddenly. Again, I covet your prayers.

I would like to leave you with a picture I took of Spot last night (before I only suspected the truth...it wasn't confirmed). It's hard to accept that this face is not only sick, but soon won't be with me anymore...

I need your prayers...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

However, this morning I am taking Spot to the vet. He has not been eating well as of late and appears to be getting weaker. Last night he seemed to be walking a little wobbly, although he seems to be a little better this morning.

A few months ago he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and we have had to deal with that. It doesn't help that he really doesn't like the food required to treat that condition.

Anyway, I hope to have good news to report. But I'm not feeling lucky.

Please keep Spot and me in your prayers.

Two Lugnuts Up

I just got back from a showing of Cars with my nephew. We both loved it. Do yourselves a favor and brave the crowds to see this one.

Incredible. Beautiful. Funny. Poignant.

And talking cars.

Two lugnuts up.

Three's a crowd?

The ice is beginning to thaw...

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get good pictures of the new kittens (at least not good enough to put up here on the blog). I have been playing with camera settings in order to take pics without using the flash (I just hate that washed out look). This effort has been somewhat successful, but I'm still working out the kinks.

However, something happened yesterday that I just had to have a picture of, so I used the flash. Mickey and Spot were both on the chair together for about five minutes without batting at each other. The spell was broken when Maggie tried to join the party. I bet you can guess how that worked out....

Anyway, here is the photographic evidence:

Mickey and Maggie

Meet Mickey and Maggie. Maggie is the tortoise- shell cutie in front and Mickey is the black kitten in the back. I expect their coloring to change somewhat as they grow older.

I picked them up from my vet, Dr. G, this morning. They are strays that were taken in by another of Dr. G's clients who just didn't have the room to keep them. I had asked Dr. G to keep me in mind for some new mouths to feed earlier this year. If you go back to the beginning of this blog you will see why I do have the room to keep them.

My other cat, Spot, has not been the same since I lost Cymbah last year. I am hoping that these new "bundles of joy" will at least give him some amusement while I'm at work. At least he hasn't swatted at them yet.

By the way, the names were given to them by their rescuer and I liked them. Well, actually the male was named Mikey. I misheard her the first time and thought she said Mickey. I guess it's not surprising that a Disneyana fan like me would make that mistake.

However, for some reason I have unconsciously called him Mikey several times today so I'm wondering if that really is his name. Hmmmm....what do y'all think? Where's T.S. Eliot when you need him?

I'll put up some better pictures soon.

Blast from the past

A few days ago I received an interesting e-mail. My old college buddy Jim sent out a bunch of inspiring pictures from Iraq (as opposed to what we normally see on the nightly news....but that subject's for another time) and included me on the distribution.

What he probably didn't know is that I had lost track of him a few years ago. Needless to say, I was very pleased to be able to reconnect with him. I've already exchanged one set of e-mails and am proud to include his blog It's All Up In The Air over there on the right side of this page.

Jim is an airline pilot (and is also with the Phoenix Air Guard) and has some very, very cool pictures on his blog. Check it out!

Jim is also the only person besides avgeek and his wife Amos to ever call me Scooter. In fact, I think he might have started it....

The last toothy post

I know it's been a few weeks since I posted. But I figured I should at least get online and report that my dental work is finished. I don't have to go back until January (and that's just for a regular checkup).

Man, I can't believe it's over. But is it weird that I'm going to miss seeing my dentist and her assistant? I mean, who am I going to talk to about American Idol now?

Anyway, I'd like to give a public shout-out to Dr. Jennifer Lee Scott and her staff. They made a trying time very easy. And they never once made fun of this old fool.

Remember people.....FLOSS.

Old Choppers

My long dental nightmare will be over in a little more than a week (a week from Tuesday, to be precise). I have the front porch done as well as a new Calatrava bridge on one side (at least it seems to cost as much as one). The last step is to erect the second bridge on the recently contructed footings (to push this metaphor way past it's expiration date).

*whew*

Anyway, I thought I would actually post a picture of what everything looked like before the construction crew began work. To see it, click here. *WARNING! Not for sensitive viewers*

Have a great week, everyone. And Happy Easter.

How Cool Is YOUR Birthday?

This morning I was listening to a repeat of Mark Davis' Thursday national show. For some reason he and his cohorts started talking about how many celebrities were born on each of their birthdays and who's birthday was the lamest "celebrity-wise".

Well, of course I had to check out mine. I already knew about Amy Grant, but I was surprised at how stacked my day (November 25) was. Here are some of my favorites:

• 1835 - Andrew Carnegie
• 1844 - Karl Benz
• 1846 - Carrie Nation
• 1883 - Merrill C. Meigs (Flight Simulator fans should know this one)
• 1914 - Joe DiMaggio
• 1920 - Ricardo Montalban (KHAN!)
• 1920 - Noel Neill (Lois!)
• 1925 - Jeffrey Hunter (Pike!)
• 1926 - Poul Anderson
• 1940 - Joe Gibbs
• 1944 - Ben Stein (Beuller!)
• 1945 - Percy Sledge
• 1947 - John Larroquette
• 1951 - Bucky Dent
• 1951 - Bill Morrissey, American musician
• 1953 - Jeffrey Skilling (former CEO of Enron ---oops!)
• 1960 - Amy Grant
• 1960 - John F. Kennedy, Jr.
• 1965 - Cris Carter
• 1965 - Bernie Kosar
• 1968 - Jill Hennessy
• 1971 - Christina Applegate
• 1976 - Donovan McNabb
• 1981 - Barbara and Jenna Bush
  

Although no one famous was born on my actual birthdate (1963), that day is famous for one particular event. It was the day President Kennedy was buried.

If you would like to check out your birthday, just go to wikipedia and enter your birthday in the seach box. Let me know if YOUR day is cool or lame!

New Choppers

As I wrote last month, I have been in the midst of some pretty serious dental work. Not only did I have the extractions, but I also needed six crowns in the front, two bridges and several fillings. Yikes.

Well, as of now, the front porch (sorry avgeek) is done. Also, all the work on the right side of my mouth (a bridge and some fillings) is complete except for the permanent bridge (which will be placed in two weeks). So far, so good.

Anyway, I thought I would let all of you know what's going on with all of this. I originally started talking about this with an entry called "The Price of Stupidity". Well, now I know most of the price. Besides the pain and discomfort, the price is actually about the cost of a new car. Heh.

However, the RESULTS have been better than I had hoped. But I'll let you decide...

Kitty Trio

I recently came across this picture of some of my family's furry friends from days gone by. I estimate it to be around 25 to 30 years old so please excuse the poor quality.

The orange and white majestic tabby at the bottom is Tiger. Even though I was very young, I still remember when my sister brought him home as a young kitten from our elementary school carnival.

The attack cat in the center is my other sister's cat, Tiffany. She was a beautiful cat that was taken from us way too soon. She was also the mother of my second cat, Midnight Junior (aka MJ).

The grey stretcher in the back is Midnight, my first cat and father of, you guessed it, MJ.

I don't know why I decided to post this today. Partially, I guess, because I haven't posted in a while and felt the need to put up something. But I also just like this picture so I thought I would share it.

I still miss all of the cats in this picture. I realize that some people just don't "get" how some of us can get so attached to our pets (even those that are long gone). For those people, all I can offer is my pity.

Stay well and hug your pet today.
-S

P.S. For those interested, the record album in the picture is the soundtrack album to the musical remake of Lost Horizon. Not really important, but I was impressed that I remembered it.

Checking In - Day 3

Well, after three days, I'm pretty surprised how well I came through my "little procedure". I was luckily spared most of the pain and nausea I have been told about. Except for a minor bit of discomfort I feel about as good as I always do. Unfortunately, I guess that means I have to go back to work on Monday...drats. I would like to think Dr. Pedro Franco and his staff for as easy a time as was probably possible.

Today I have been watching way too much Olympics coverage. I don't see how I can keep this up! But watching the Opening Ceremonies I was reminded of a thought I have every time I watch one of these. Namely, that there sure are a lot of beautiful women in this world of all nationalities.

Take care, folks. And remember to floss.

Ow

Well, the deed is done. What an....interesting....experience. Especially when I started coming out of it during the last two teeth. Fun city.

Anyway, once again thanks for all of the kind thoughts from everyone. Now I'm going to drink milkshakes and watch DVDs for a few days.

Stay well,
-Scott

Won't be long now...

Well, in about an hour and a half I begin the "procedure". I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends and family that have offered their encouragement. It is very much appreciated. Hopefully I'll be back later this afternoon to give a status report. If not, then look for it tomorrow.

Hmm...who would have thought I would rather be at work today? :)