The <spb> Blog

I’m horrible about keeping in contact with my family. I’m of the generation who doesn’t believe in calling home or writing letters. I’m all about instant messaging and email…and I’m bad at doing that as well. So, I’m going to attempt to keep family members up to date with the old blog here. Most of you (you dont’ have to tell me Josh) will this boring I bet, so I’m just warnin’ ya.

So..what have I been up to?

Well, my job always has me busy, and it’s almost been twelve years since I started my current job. It seems like a long time to be at one job these days, but working in online world, the business and technology changes so much, I’m always doing something different and learning new stuff. I might have the same boss as I did twelve years ago, but I don’t have the same job.

At home, Kelly and I have finally gotten around to purchasing some major items for inside the house. We bought our new sectional for the living room. It seats 7 or 2 people and maybe 8 dogs. The dogs love it because they can all sit on the couch with us, and because it’s very comfortable. We also purchases shades for our office. We have three large windows that face directly west, and while we love the view, when the sun comes down, it sucks. My laptop overheats all the time, and the glare is horrible. So yesterday, we had three roman shades installed that block the sun completely. They work great. In full sun, I can even play games without losing anything to glare (I consider it a good test of glare to play a game with darkly lit scenes). My second office/studio also has a newly installed roller which covers the entire window, and allows me to work in there as well.

We’re also working on our garden. The weather hasn’t cooperated so much, as we’ve had a lot of rainy weekends. However, it’s looking like this week we’ll be able to get it setup. We’re using a combination of cardboard and carpet to keep the weeds at bay. Combined with the series of soaker hoses we have, we’re hoping this year is the year we achieve little or no weeding and easy watering. We have great soil and had a good crop last year (we still have stuff left over and frozen) and hope this one does as well.

Also, all the dogs and cats are doing well.

Well, that just about sums it up for this week. Enough of the familial Ambien!

From some stupid report done for Missouri cops:

“It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitution Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former Presidential Candidate: Ron Paul, Chuck Bladwin, and Bob Barr.”

More about it here:

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132250.html

This past Thursday, I took Ozzy back to the vet for his three week check up following his hell week of dealing with bladder stones and two surgeries. The purpose of the visit was to make sure he didn’t still have an infection and to x-ray him again to see if he had any remaining stones.

He came out with flying colors on both accounts. Everything appears back to normal. His appetite is voracious and his activity level is way up. I’m assuming he was somewhat sick for a while, and only when he was completely blocked up, did it finally show. He’s one tough little bastard though. The concern for kidney damage is no longer there, as he was able to process massive amounts of toxins in less than 48 hours. The only difference for him going forward is to keep him on a special food to prevent stones from forming again. He’s not on any special food related to kidneys. I’ve had him for ten years, and while I don’t really expect to have him for another ten, I could easily see him around when I turn forty.

This past Monday (2008-12-29), my cat Ozzy needed to be taken to the vet, because it seemed he was unable to control his bladder. Upon taking him to the clinic, the vet told me that his bladder was plugged up, probably by stones, and he need to take blood work, put him under anesthesia, and insert a catheter later that night. So, I didn’t feel too worried when I left him there, for what I thought was a couple days.

That night the vet called me and said the blood work was really bad looking, and that he could be having severe kidney failure. Putting him under anesthesia was risky, even for just the catheter, but there wasn’t any choice. I was told it was possible I could lose Ozzy because the kidneys could be that damaged. The vet called later that night, after the surgery was finished putting the catheter in.

The next morning I went to visit Ozzy, not sure what to expect. Ozzy seemed in pretty good spirits. He was drinking and eating, but it was still wait and see. I had some hope he would make it because he was just so alert, and not lethargic at all, which are signs of renal failure. The next morning the vet called me to say that Ozzy’s blood work was now normal, after just 36 hours. The major hurdle appeared to be over. Next, was surgery to get the stones out of his bladder.

There was a problem with that part, though. The stones had move out of his bladder and into the urethra, which threatened to plug his bladder up even more. The only option was to basically remove the penis part, and build him what is called a “drip board”. That surgery went well, and Ozzy was handling the anesthesia as well as one can expect.

Three days later, I was able to Ozzy home, just this morning. Other than large portions of shaven skin and missing chunks of fat that he lost during the whole ordeal, Ozzy is pretty much back to normal. As soon as I walked into the room where Ozzy was kept, he started meowing. When I didn’t get him immediately, he got a little annoyed and knocked his water dish over and made a mess. That is the Ozzy I’ve always known.

So, the long term prognosis is pretty good. He will probably need to be on a special diet for the rest of his life to prevent stones, and there is still the chance he has a little kidney damage, but at his age (10), he hasn’t had his life expectancy really affected. As I write this post, he is curled up next to my laptop like he always is when I work in my hobby room. He was just as pissy waiting to be fed as he always is. I’m grateful for all the work Dr. Morris and his staff from the Animal Clinic of Kearney did, as well as the updates I received every morning. I appreciate that Dr. Morris was up front in the beginning with the chances of losing Ozzy, because really, the odds at one point weren’t really that good. But Ozzy must be pretty tough and heal well, because he went through everything really well. I’m really glad he’s home.