Gig 'Em Aggies

Well, tonight's the big game. The Texas A&M vs. Cal. The Ags are underdogs, which doesn't surprise me. I think that it should be a good game, and a close one at that. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Aggies by 3.

I managed to get 20 tickets to the Rangers for Christmas this year! Yippppeeee! I got 10 from my parents, and 10 from Bubba. Annie thanks you too.

Dr. Toes and I are going to the Cotton Bowl this year. I'm pretty excited, because I haven't been to a Bowl game before.

I don't have a lot of profound things to say today. Sorry for the lack of posting as of late, but I've been a tad preoccupied with other things.

Keep on keepin' on.

Merry Christmas

Breaking news, although it's a day late, Annie and I have gotten back together. You know, I really love roller coasters, but this ride sucked.

I hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas! I hope that all of you have a great time with your friends and family.

It's gonna be a pretty small gathering @ mi padres house tomorrow (Dad, Mom, Me, Kewa, Bubba, his Girlfriend, and her Daughter).

Bubba and I are gonna take his enduro (sp?) bike out tomorrow. He's had it for over a year now, and he just now got it running. He's never even really ridden it.

I hope that we have fun. I was just getting my helmet all ready for the endeavor.

Well, Merry Christmas. Keep on keepin' on.

It's Been A Hard Few Days, With More To Come

Annie and I broke up yesterday. I'm dealing with it now, and I really don't feel much like typing. Sorry to my 2-3 readers out there. :)

If you read this Annie, I wish you nothing but good things.

As the old song said, "Breaking up is hard to do."

No kidding.

Keep on keepin' on.

A Break II

We are still on a break, and this sucks. These situations are so hard.

So, understandably, I really don't have a lot to talk about lately. Basically, my life is on "hold" until I can decide what the best decision is.

On one hand there's this........and on the other hand there is this........

It would be a lot easier if I didn't love her so much.

So I bang my head against the wall. Over and over.

Keep on keepin' on.

A Break

Well, Annie and I are on a "break."

The details really don't matter that much, because why does one couple fight versus another couple? It's all really the same: differences between men and women, and the way that each person views things. Men want to "fix" things, and women want to "talk" about them and share their emotions, thereby each sex tries to further their bonding. But when these two points of view clash, it's no bueno.

And besides, any details of the cause of the "break" are pretty boring, so sharing them for the world to see really doesn't help anybody. It's the same type of stuff that couples face all the time. There was no yelling, screaming, curse words, or anything close to that, so it's not a very good story anyway.

So, now I have the holidays to "think", I guess. Probably not the best time to do that, do you think?

But I have been thinking a lot about compatibility today. What makes one couple mesh well, and another mesh OK?

I actually had a real conversation with my dad today. If you know him, you realize how rare that is, since he does about 99% of the talking during any given interaction. But this morning was a very good talk with him. I have to keep these close, since Dad and I have only had a handful of "real" conversations, where I get to state my point of view on a given topic.

I actually got to know him on a much more personal level. Think about your own relationship with your dad. Most of the time it's on a Father/Son level. Even at my age (31) it's still pretty much that way. But once in a while, you expand on those roles, and branch out into something a little more. Like a friendship. Well, today, I started to see my dad in a different light. As a person.

That may sound funny, but it takes a while to realize that fact, and that he's not just "Dad," but he has feelings too. I asked Dad about when he was dating Mom, and I learned a lot about him from that. It was pretty cool.

So that makes today pretty bittersweet, and isn't that the way most things are anyway? I gained a new respect for my dad, which fills a hole, and I lost Annie, which creates one.

Fill one, make one. Make a new friend, lose a friend. Get a new job, lose the old job. Move to a new house, lost the old one. Gain something from you dad, lose something from your girlfriend.

So, I guess I'll have to just follow my motto for this blog: Keep on keepin' on.

And may God bless you.

P.S. I fully realize that this post isn't at all funny. So don't count this one against me. A brotha can only do so much.

Am I Funny?

I'd like to place a poll on my sense of humor:

Am I funny?

Those of you that know me can email me your answer. If you don't.....Post a comment.

Cuz I think that my posts of the last few months haven't been humorous. I'm trying to figure out what my new "theme" should be for this blog, since I dang sure ain't writing about poker anymore.

Hmmmm

I just looked at the stats of my blog, to see who has been reading my shiznit, and I found out that someone found my blog by searching for "bastage definition."

I'm not sure this is something to brag about.

Although I do use the word "bastage" to take the place of the word "bastard," because I really don't want to curse on this here blog. Sensitive eyes may be reading this.

Keep on keepin' on.

But They Are Just Here To Work

Well, for any of you that have been hit with identity theft, this story has to make you feel a little better (the one about the meat packing pant raids). In fact, Annie's sister was wrongfully served papers for possessions of a controled substance, as a result of identity theft. As any of you have read this blog have heard, mine was sort of stolen when I got a grand total of about $3300 stolen from my Neteller account and bank account. It's not fun.

Here's the link to the story

The ILLEGAL immigrants were arrested on charges of suspected of buying or stealing other people's identities to secure U.S. jobs. The story said that there are probably hundreds of victims of identity theft.

"But they are just here to work." Whatever. Unless you've had you identity stolen, you can't really appreciate how big of a pain in the arse all of this is.

Nice.

Keep on keepin' on.

I'm Ready For Some Baseball

Well, since Andy Pettitte is a freakin' traitor, going back to the team that scoffed him, the Astros made a trade to try to fill his spot in the rotation. The Rangers are also busy this offseason, signing Kenny Lofton (why on earth they did that is beyond me.)

I really hope that the Texas teams can do something this year. I'd sure like one of them to make the playoffs. I seriously doubt that the Rangers are going to, so that puts a lot of pressure on the H-town Boys. I think that it's gonna be a "rebuilding" year for the Astros though, since they are going to have to pretty much redo their entire starting pitching rotation this year, especially since it's very unlikely that The Rocket will re-sign with them.

Cameltoes left today for Oregon again. So I get to have all 4 of the puppies to myself. Not that 2 Great Danes, a Golden Retriever, and an Australian Shepherd are "puppies." Mars and the Big Penis are pretty dang funny, and I love them, so it will be another fun 10 days or so with just me and the pups.

I fired up the Xbox for the first time since I moved back to Ft. Worth. Much to my dismay, it didn't work. And this is the 2nd Xbox that I've had (the first one was destroyed by a misplaced urine stream by Big R, but that's a story for a different day.)

Gotta get back to "An Unfinished Life", since Annie is off of the phone. Good flick so far, especially since I love these types of movies.

Keep Hope Alive. And Keep On Keepin' On. And Stay Black. And Keep Pimpin'. And Keep On Striving To Keep Da Man From Bringing Ya Down.

Peace.

Yeah Pakistan

I just heard that Pakistan just passed a monumental law recently. Here it is in a nutshell.

The new law changes the number of male witnesses a woman needs to prove that she was raped from 4 to 3. So, now it only takes 3 male witnesses to the act of a woman being raped to cause the person to be found guilty.

Profound.

And when exactly are there gonna be 4, much less 3, male witnesses to a rape? And if there are that many witnesses, what in the hell are they doing there anyway?

It boggles the mind.

Oh. And there were thousands of Muslims protesting the new law in the streets. Wow.

Don't let members of this "peaceful" religion fool you. At least those who advocate Sharia Law, jihad, and other assorted fun stuff (Like cutting off your head for being a Christian. Or being stoned to death for adultery. Or having your hand cut off for robbery. You know, fun stuff like that.).

So, you know, that about sums it up.

Keep on keepin' on.

Happiness.

I just bought Dennis Prager's book, "Happiness is a Serious Problem." Here is something very interesting that I just read.

"People compare themselves with anyone they think is happier. In fact, the less we know about the people with whom we compare ourselves, the more dramatic the difference in assumed happiness. In the words of Helen Telushkin...,"The only happy people I know are people I don't know well."

If all of us realized that the people with whom we negatively compare our happiness are plagued by pains and demons of which we know little or nothing, we would stop comparing our happiness with others'."

I think that his conclusions are pretty profound. The closer you are to somebody, the more you know about them. And the more that you know about them, the more that you realize that they have their own problems too. Looking at a movie star, for example, you only see the most outward appearances, so you assume that since they have "everything," that they must be happy. I would have to say that 99% of the time, it's quite the opposite.

Keep on keepin' on.

Dr. Toes Responds To The Pit Bull Controversy

Here is Cameltoes' response to the Pit Bull ordeal. The original post is in the "comment" section, but I thought that I'd put it out here for easier reading. Here it is:

"Ok.. so I went to the website that Pitbullspit left for you, which is run
by Karen Delise, LVT - and I found this quote:

"It is important to emphasize that the breed of dog is never the sole determining factor in a fatal dog attack. A fatal attack is always the culmination of past and present events that include: inherited and learned behaviors, genetics, breeding, socialization, function of the dog, physical condition and size of dog, reproductive status of dog, individual temperament, environmental stresses, owner responsibility, victim behavior, victim size and physical condition, timing and misfortune."

And from this they state that the breed is never the "sole" determining factor. Which I agree, but it does play a big role in it.. Because as the quote continues it
will discuss the other reasons that may lay behind the attack, and look.. what's
this.. the dogs functional purpose.. Hmmm what's the functional purpose of a pit???

Ohhh wait.. NEWSFLASH - Serena Williams pitbull just bit her security
guard. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/04/1204williams.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17

Back to the subject.. Another reason listed is inherited behaviors.. which we remind
you is different than learned behaviors.. So when they are born "some" of these
dogs are set for a course of disaster.. You and I know it, along with a hundred
other DVM's, that sometimes you get a 8 week old puppy that is the spawn of
Satan.. Sure you can try to change the behavior, but 50% of the time these dogs
remain as a caution for their entire life.I believe strongly that people should
own a pitbull only with a permit, and after going through an educational course.
All dogs should be registered and breedings limited to the best temperaments and
best socialization groups. I love the breed and have rescued many from neglect
and abandonment.. I know they can be wonderful with kids.. but not all of
them.

NEWSFLASH - Pitbull killed in drug raid!!! Now what is a pitbull doing at a
meth lab????

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/16147923.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

I agree with Dr. DD completely on the matter of the dogs intensity when its bite,
and its ability to do some of the greatest damage out of all other breeds..
Yes.. I feel Chihuahuas are a nasty breed, often time due to the way they are
raised, but even if I get bit, I know it will hurt like hell, but I am not going
to lose a finger, let a lone and arm, face, or my life..

NEWSFLASH - money raised
for 2yr old girl after being attacked by pitbull.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/wrtv/20061203/lo_wrtv/10451269

Don't get me wrong.. I enjoy the breed and often feel very comfortable around them in the exam rooms of day hospitals and the emergency clinics.. More comfortable than a lot of other breeds.. But I do feel in the wrong hands, they are a huge risk.. I
think people should have permits to own them, all dogs should be registered,
permits to breed them, and all others heavily fined, and animals seized.. Any
attacks secondary to an owner without a permit is jail time, and any attack with
an owner with a permit is euthanasia of the animal, loss of permit, and of
course a nice court case... This is my two cents..Dr. C Toes

I hope that you enjoyed my essay on Pit Bulls. I feel that I made my points very clear, and I tried my best to be fair and honest. I really hope that the dude that wrote the comment will read my response, and post a response to my response (does that make sense?).

Today Dr. Toes and I work at clinics that are about 2 miles away from each other. So we did what every tree-hugging liberal would do......we car-pooled. It was pretty nice actually being able to use the HOV lane for once and wave good-bye to all of the single passenger vehicles. I managed to only be 10 minutes late too. Freakin' Monday traffic.

I love the clinic that I'm working at today. Why is that? It's because the number of animals I see here is very, very minimal. Although, today is a little different matter. I am in the process of trying to get a patient to a specialist. And it's a huge headache!

After my previous two brilliant posts, I'm about spent.

Keep on keepin' on.

Response To A Reader's Comment

Apparently, I have more than 2 or 3 readers on this here blog. I am going to respond to a comment the "pitbullspit" made about my blog titled "Sorry." I don't think that "pitbullspit" is ever going to read this, but here goes.

Here is pitbullspit's comment:

"Get some more education or awareness on the matter before you choose to add to the negative image the pit bull is already a victim of. I would guess your logic is that we should just get rid of all these dogs. Well when there are no more pit bulls to blame which breed will you choose next to eradicate?"

Here is my response:

I didn't even say that anything should be done, much less say that the breed should be eliminated. As for me getting "more education or awareness," I don't even know what that means. I am "aware" of the fact the Pits continually kill people. I also put about 90% of the blame on the owners of those dogs.

I have also spent plenty of time working at different animal shelters, and I can say, that of all of the animals that are under rabies quarantine there for biting somebody, Pit Bulls have a pretty high representation. And of those dogs, the Pits are the ones most likely to attack me there, from the other side of the cage.

In other words, Pit Bulls are pretty likely to bite somebody, and when they do, the dogs are more likely to be pretty dang aggressive. They are also more likely to kill you.

I realize the Labs and Lab mixes are also very high on the human bite incident list. There are two big reasons for that.

1) Many, many dogs, are labeled "Lab mix." It's a standard identification to give a dog when you aren't sure of what the breed is, but it "kinda" looks like a Lab.

2) There are a lot of Labs and Lab mixes running around here, much more than the number of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes. I don't have any data to back that up, but in my experience, that is the case (And I am a veterinarian that has worked in dozens of practices all over the state. And at all types of practices catering to both rich and the poor.) So, I think that my conclusion is pretty valid.

As far as my "education", I believe that me actually being a veterinarian that has treated hundreds, if not thousands, of Pit Bulls, gives me a pretty good "education" on the behavior of Pits. As I said, I have had only a handful of Pits that have been a problem for me in the clinic (i.e. they are very aggressive and had to be muzzled).

That being said, Pits attack in a completely unique manner. When they attack, most of the time, if not all of the time, it takes numerous attempts to get the Pit to stop. Most dogs, after being hit once, will stop their attack. Not Pits. They are trying to kill. Or seriously injure. Just look at the reports of witnesses describing the attacks of Pits. Pits just don't stop their attack.

The biggest problem with the Pit Bull is that it is a "machismo" issue. Most people that own these dogs have them to look "badass." It's all about image. Before the Pits became popular, it was the Chow. Now, the Rott, Chow, and Pit Bull are all "Hey look at me, I'm a badass mofo because I have this dog."

Why on earth do drug dealers, gang bangers, criminals, etc own Pits? Is it because of the Pit Bull's striking personality and good looks?

No. It's because of the image that the dog portrays. And the meaner the dog, the better. And the owners of these dogs (the "badass" owners) tend to mistreat these dogs to make them meaner.*

So who are we fooling here? Do I think that Pit Bulls are bad dogs? Yes and no. I think that raised right, they will most likely be fine, and never hurt a flea.

But the problem is that they are killing people, and the vast majority of the people that own them, have them for the "image" that the dog portrays. And I'm not saying most of the owners of Pit Bulls are criminals either, so don't even think that I'm saying that for a second.

I am saying that almost 100% of the people that own a Pit Bull is for the image. Period. Not because of their personality. Not because of their striking good looks.

If you want personality and good looks, get a Golden Retriever. Or a Boston Terrier. Or an Irish Setter. Or an Old English Sheepdog. Or a Great Dane. Or a Maltese. Or a Lhasa Apso. Or a Newfoundland. Or a Norfolk Terrier. Or a West Highland White. Or a........

I do think that the owners of these dogs need to be held accountable for the actions of their dogs. Just like parents are responsible for the actions of their children.

If your dog kills somebody, you go to jail. For a long time.

If your dog rips a child's face off, you go to jail. For a long time.

If your dog rips off a 2 year old kid's arm, you go to jail. For a long time.

I think that Pits should have to be registered, in a similar manner to a gun, because we all know that a lot of these dogs are being used as weapons against people and other dogs, either intentionally or unintentionally.

I think that after a few people end up in jail because their "friendly" dog killed somebody, then the number of Pit Bulls in the country will start decreasing pretty dang rapidly.

Keep on keepin' on.


Footnote:
* I am in no way saying that all owners of Pits mistreat their dogs. So don't even go there.

I Can't Believe It's Almost Over

Can you believe that the College Football season is almost over? It seems like it just started. And that the beloved Texas A&M Aggies were a mere 3 plays from being undefeated, and probably going to the National Championship game? How sickening is that?

Hold on........I just might vomit.

False alarm

Chief Pounds on Toes and I watched the Big 12 Championship game last night. I'll preface this by saying that I've been a Husker fan all of my life, and I really wanted them to beat the hell outta OU. But to no avail. They played like crap, and handed the game over to the Sooners.

Oh well. At least it wasn't t.u. in the Championship. WHOOP!!!


It's a bit chilly this morning, a brisk 32 degrees. I just let my dogs back inside, from their brief adventure outside, and boy are they excited! Daisy loves it outside. And she especially loves the cold weather.

I've realized something lately. I can learn a lot from my dog Daisy. She's a Golden Retriever, with an especially sweet disposition. She ain't the sharpest tack in the box, but she tries. But here's what I've taken from her.

She loves life. Absolutely loves it. It doesn't matter what's going on, or what the weather is like, or what mood I'm in, or if any of the other dogs want to play with her. In her mind, it's always a sunny day outside, with today being the best day of her life. She doesn't have a care in the world. All she needs is......well......any object, and she's on Cloud 9. She doesn't even chew on it. She just holds it in her mouth and is..........happy.

I am realizing that I need to work on that mindset, because happiness is literally a state of mind. Nobody can take away your happiness, unless you let them. Sure, everybody gets hacked off sometimes.

But what good does it do to be pissed off for longer than a few seconds (if at all) at that idiot driver that just cut you off? He/She doesn't care that you are mad. In fact, they don't even know that you are mad. You aren't hurting them, or getting revenge, at all by being mad. Think about it.

So whether it's raining and cold, or sunny and warm, I'm gonna try very hard to be like Daisy: happy.

And as my favorite talk radio host Dennis Prager says, "It's our moral duty to be, or at least act, happy." Think how much better your work environment would be if everybody, at a minimum, at least acted happy.

Keep on keepin' on.

Sorry

I've been pretty MIA lately, as you could probably tell by my serious lack of posting on this here blog.

Last night, Annie and I went to the Mavericks game. It was a pretty big blowout as the Mavs won their 12th straight game in a row. They handed the Sacramento Kings a pretty big ole Texas ass-whooping. The Mavs look pretty dang good this year again. I think that they should be able to at least make it to the Finals, if not outright win it. But then again, I'm no NBA expert, in any shape or form.

I just looked at a puppy who is boarding here. The owner has 2 dogs (a Pit Bull and a German Shepherd mix), and they were both kept in the same run overnight (which is standard for dogs that are from the same household). Well, the Pit decided it wanted to eath the puppy, and now it has about 4 puncture wounds on the side of his face. Poor puppy. I've started the puppy on antibiotics, and we are now separating the 2 dogs. Dam Pits.

Oh, I know, they are sweet dogs. Blah, blah, blah. "But they are so sweet to my kids." "My Pit loves me." Blah, blah, blah. They are a dangerous breed. I say this having only seen 1 or 2 Pits, out of the hundreds I have treated, that have been outright mean. They are friendly dogs. They just like to kill people. Kind of a bad thing, don't you think?

Yeah, yeah. I know other breed of dogs bite and kill people, but not like Pits do. Pits simply won't stop their attack once they get started. Something has to be done about this.

Sorry for the rant there, but it just hacks me off.

I'd better get going. I've got more puppies to save.

Keep on keepin' on.

Interesting

I was listening to my favorite talk radio dude, Dennis Prager, the other day, and his topic was about the recent study that showed that women talk more than men. Really? What a shock! I'm sure all you men out there are utterly amazed right now.

The study concluded that women speak on average of 20,000 words per day, and men speak a measly 7,000. Considering that a good length for a book is 60,000 words, women basically write a book every three days.

That is a HUGE chasm of difference. Basically 3 times the amount of words spoken each day. The study also said that women get a "high", like that of heroin addicts, when they hear themselves speak. So the more that they talk, the better they feel.

I'm not sure that this is good news for guys. So, in theory, women could talk all day long and feel really, really good.

On a different note, I had a guy bring in his dog for a "swollen penis." Doesn't that just brighten up your day? I mean, that just puts a smile on one's face.

The guy was pretty worried about his dog, because he had just been neutered a little over a week ago. It turned out that everything was normal. It was just his glands down there that were "swollen," which is perfectly normal.

Ah, sweet relief. The guy felt pretty embarrassed over the issue, and I told him that he wasn't the first person to bring their dog in for this "problem."

Poor guy.

I'm about to have to neuter a feral cat, so that should be interesting. Keep me in your prayers, cuz this pussycat be pissed.

I'll see you on the flipside. Keep on keepin' on.

3 Down, 3 To Go

I've been a pretty crazy brotha lately. I'm finished with the 3rd day of work, in my 6 days in a row work schedule. Tough, I know, but I'm actually gonna be working 9 out of 10 days in a row. Not that I'm complaining, because I just made over $800 for about 8.5 hours of work in 2 days (not a bad gig if you can get it). So, needless to say, I'm really gonna miss doing relief work for a full time job.

Rhetorical question: Am I making a huge mistake by taking this full-time job?

We shall see. Here's a breakdown of the pros and cons

Pros:
1) A steady paycheck.
2) I will know exactly how much money I'll make each month
3) Benefits - insurance, fees, dues, taxes, paid vacation, etc.
4) Saving 2 hours every workday in my commute, which is gonna be the biggest pro, methinks.

Cons:
1) I'm gonna take an immediate $1000-$2000/month net paycut every month, until I start making a bonus.
2) flexibility - I can make my own work schedule doing relief work, thereby being able to take a vacation whenever I want to. Or to actually have a weekend off, if I want to.
3) I love doing relief work. There is basically no stress in my job as it is. If a client gets pissed, they really don't take it out on me, which is extremely nice. I also don't have to worry about much about outcomes. All of these are huge in my love of relief work; there's no stress.
4) I like how I get to work all sorts of different clinics, of which most of them are pretty dang laid back.

Keep on keepin' on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry for the lapse in writing, but I've been kind of without internet lately.

This past weekend, I went home with Annie for her family Thanksgiving feast. I got to meet one of her cousins for the first time. We played games, and talked, and all-in-all, had a jolly old time. I even sang the "Aggie War Hymn", much to Annie's chagrin, to her 15-month old niece. The kid loved it. Really, she did.

Saturday night, we went to Annie's mom's house to play games. It was Annie, her mom, her sister, her cousin, and myself. We just got there, and Annie's sister and I started to get out the drinks. Her mom asked us what we were drinking - Annie and her sister we drinking Tilt-, and I showed her my flask, which had Maker's Mark in it.

To which her mom replied, "I worry about you, Big D."

So she should. I am dating her daughter.

My family Thanksgiving will be at my Uncle and Aunt's house, like it always is. Bubba brought his girlfriend, along with her baby (NOT my brother's). My cousin and her husband came with their 2 year old daughter, and their 8 month old twin boys. All in all, the 4 kids behaved very well, although, the 2 year old girl did manage to drop a large chunk of ice cream right into my boots. To which she exclaimed, "Uh oh!"

Uh oh is right. So I beat the snot outta her..............just kidding. I shook my head in disbelief and cleaned out the mess. That little girl couldn't have done that if she tried, which makes it all the more funny.

And the Cowboys won!!! But then again, was there any doubt?

For the most part, Thanksgiving was pretty standard, not including the ice cream in my boot, of course. It's nice to see the relatives again, but to me it's kind of hard coming up with small talk with people that you only see once to 4-5 times a year. Or is it just me? And, I really like seeing them, I do.

But I've been realizing something over the last few years......I really don't even know my relatives. Sure, I've known my Uncle and Aunt for my entire life (well, not my uncle, but I've known him since I was 6 or 7), but I really couldn't tell you what makes them tick. Or what they like or dislike on anything but the most superficial level.

For instance, my uncle likes hunting, but I don't know what he likes to do during his free time. Odd isn't it? And can you really get to know someone on an average of about 2.45 visits/year for 31 years? I don't think that you can.

Another example is one of my cousins, who is 4 years older than I. I always looked up to him when I was a kid, kind of like an older brother. So growing up, and until about 3 years ago, I saw him about 2 twice a year. I really like him, but 3-5 hours of hanging out twice a year really doesn't cut it for maintaining any "real" type of relationship. Does it???

Sorry about the pondering, but this is something that's been eating at me for the last few years.

I really love Thanksgiving, but I love Christmas even more. Maybe it's because Christmas is always at our house. Maybe it's because we always celebrate it at night. Maybe it's because it's cold outside then. And maybe it's because I like seeing my family opening their presents, and all chatting together.

Keep on keepin' on

Kickin' It.

I've been busy planning Big R's Bachelor Party extravaganza. It's tough trying to get about 8 person's schedules all in sync (Not N 'Sync, which is a horrible excuse for music.) But I digress. We have it planned for January, and there will be plenty of gambling and drinking involved, so all should be fine.

I kinda underestimated the hotel expense though. Cameltoes (a.k.a. Chief Pounds on Toes) and I are trying to find a good deal at a hotel/casino, so we don't have to have a cab or a designated driver for the tomfoolery that will ensue.

And, as one of Big R's friend's said, "I've never been to (the town that we are going to), so I trust that there are casinos, hookers, and blow."

Well said.


Today is pretty dang slow at work today, and I think that it's gonna be slow for the next 6 weeks or so, because of the holidays coming up. People tend to not spend a lot on their pets when they need to buy their kids the new Playstation 3, a horsey, a bike, a 4-wheeler, laptop computer so that they can surf porn, etc. It doesn't leave a lot for old Fido that's been feeling a little down lately.


Right now, I'm listening to the Glenn Beck Show. There is a Muslim on the air arguing for Sharia law, and he doesn't even know what that means. Glenn is making him look like a fool. The caller keeps dodging the questions, and is saying absolutely nothing. He is an American citizen, and he keeps saying to Glenn about "your" government, and "your" media. Interesting.

The caller is very, very scary. He was ranting about the U.S. government being behind 9/11. Which makes NO SENSE at all! Why on earth would our government want to do that? I've heard these wackos talk about this before, and all that they can come up with is that the "Jews" did it. Again, what would that do for the "Jews"? Nothing.

Just watch the Glenn Beck show tonight at 7 PM or 9 PM ET on CNN Headline News. He's gonna have an interesting 1 hour show on our "friends" in the Middle East.

Hold on kids, it's gonna be an ugly ride. Especially with the dems in the Congress.


I've been trying to drink more water lately. The only advantage to that is that I get to urinate every 5 minutes. It's fun. Especially when you are stuck in an hour long surgery. Where you can't exactly just get up and leave to go potty.

This drinking water business is no fun. It's not even "leaded." What a ripoff. At least give me something for my frequent urination. At least give me a little som'thin' som'thin' for my effort.

I'm trying to budget for me Christmas shopping. How exactly do you determine how much money to spend on your "Sweet Young Thing" as one of my bosses called Annie recently. I'm thinkin' I'll spend $25 or so. On a Wal-Mart gift card.

"How romantic," you say.

I know. I'm a freakin' Casanova.

Keep on keepin' on.

Dr. Toes Gets Tattooed

Today, Dr. Toes got his eye's tattooed. Seriously. I mean his eyeballs. Why, you may ask? We he just had Lasix surgery done this morning. He had to get up at 3:00 A.M. this morning to get ready for the shuttle that would pick him up by 4:00 A.M. Dam, that's early.

Well, he was back at the house by 9:30 this morning, and he is one tired mother-trucker. His eyes look like he went 9 rounds with Mike Tyson (before his crazy ear-biting days). He has 2 tattoo dots on each eye, which looks pretty weird.

So, I have to keep waking him up, because he needs to put drops in his eyes every 10 minutes, and his butt keeps falling asleep. Understandably, cuz he be a tired cat.

On another note, my check engine light came on Saturday, so I finally got it in today. I went to Auto Zone for their free diagnostic check, and it said that there is a "Misfire at cylinder 8." This kind of pisses me off, because I just got new spark plugs and wires put in about 4 months ago. I hope that there is nothing too bad wrong with it. After spending about $2700 on it 2 months ago, I'm not really keen on spending too much more. I think that I have spent about $3500 on repairs on it this year alone. Dam, that's a lot of money.

My problem is that I've almost got the sucker paid off, as I owe around $6,000 on it. The real problem is that I have put over 98,000 miles on it in less than 4 years. I figure that by the time I have it paid off (by May of 2007 or so), I'll have around 110,000 miles or so. Great. Then I will have to keep it until the wheels fall off, to make the entire purchase worth while. Looking back, I really shouldn't have bought the truck in the first place, especially not buying it brand new. Oh well, live and learn.

I think within the next year or so, I'm gonna buy a P.O.S. Honda Accord for around $4,000-$5,000, and try to pay cash for it. I really don't want another car payment for a long time, because $525/month is a pretty steep amount to pay every month for 5 years.

Think about it. We have become so accustomed to the idea of having a car payment, that we think nothing about always having one. For instance, I could trade my truck in, and probably come out about even on the deal. I would then have a brand-new vehicle (good), but with another 5 year note. So then I'd continue the cycle of a never-ending car payment. The only good thing about that situation is that you drive a new vehicle all the time, and thereby keep repairs to a minimum. But, as I have learned this year, that isn't really true either, considering the $3500 or so that I've spent on repairs this year so far.

So, why not pay my truck off, and then use the money that I was paying for my truck and put it into an account of some sort. Save said money, and pay cash for the next vehicle, thereby saving a considerable amount of $$$ on interest on the vehicle. Plus, the real bonus is not having a car payment. Brilliant.

By the way, I got this idea from Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University class. I highly recommend it.

I really sucks that I got hit this hard with truck repairs during this time of year. My workload is much slower during November-December, so I don't exactly have much extra $ to spend on me truck. Especially with Christmas around the corner.

So, Annie, you'd better hope that the repairs are at a minimum, right? It's gonna determine how much $ I have for your Christmas gift. So keep your fingers crossed Annie.

Well, I've rambled enough, so keep on keepin' on.

See, Everyone Uses This Term

I've been reading, "The Truth About Hillary", by Edward Klein lately. It's a GREAT book. He's a good author who portrays her in her true light. Well I was reading when I found this quote, my emphasis added:

"Some senators professed to detect the emergence of a kinder, gentler Hillary. They noted that she never criticized President George W. Bush. She even gushed over the inspiring leadership of her New York archenemy, former mayor Rudolph Guiliani."

Even a world-renowned author uses the term "gush*".

Just thought that I'd share that with the world.

Keep on keepin' on.

* For those of you that don't understand what I mean when I say "gush", it means female lubrication. As in a woman getting "wet." You are welcome.

The Sky Is Falling!

But, unlike Chicken Little, I think that there are gonna be some pretty nasty changes coming up, now that the dems have the House, and probably the Senate.

Be ready for:

1) Higher taxes (but, hopefully, Bush will veto any bill that does that.) But they also want every single Bush tax cut to be repealed. Hurray!!! Cuz us folks love payin' dem taxes.

2) Higher gas prices - They are going to oppose expanding any drilling on U.S. soil, thereby maintaining the status quo of our dependence on foreign oil

3) Increase our risks of being attacked by crazy Muslim terrorists - They will cut our defense funding, and work hard to stifle our "wire tapping"

4) Continue to allow the floodgates to be open at our border. They dang sure don't want to stop the pouring of illegal immigrants, because that's voters coming in.

5) More "oversight" of intelligence - Methinks that means that they will make it very, very hard for us to gather any intelligence of any kind, related to comment #3

6) Create a true civil war in Iraq, and create a haven for terrorists there - They are going to push hard to get us out of Iraq way too early. Look out for this. It's coming.

7) Keep N. Korea and Iran on their current paths - They want us to open direct talks with these two nations. Can you really negotiate with terrorists and/or crazy people????? I don't think so.
8) Further hinder our Dept. of Homeland Security - They want oversight of intelligence agencies and "privacy-civil liberties issues." Again, related to #3, but this has an important addition. The civil liberties issues are not for us U.S. citizens. No, they are for the terrorists. That's all that they have talked about. They have been harping on our treatment of "enemy combatants" for years now. You'll see. Heck, even the Supreme Court, said that we need to give them rights.

9) Increase the terrorists rights (related to #8) - They are going to conduct hearings on the treatment of terrorists and domestic surveillance programs. Great. That's exactly what we need. Let's further hinder our country. Let's make it even easier for terrorists to strike this country.

10) Slow down the economy by increasing the minimum wage. - By forcing businesses to increase their payroll, it will in turn increase the cost of goods, because the businesses will pass on the extra expense of payroll to.....us.....the consumer.

I got most of this info from this story from the AP.

I think that the following 2 years will actually be good for the conservatives. I think after watching the dems turn this country into a clusterfudge, the voters will do what matters most....Put the Republicans in the White House, and put them back in the majority in both the House and the Senate in 2008.

Keep on keepin' on, and look out for any suspicious behavior by Middle Eastern men ages 18-45, because it's gonna be interesting.

Dancing With Cats

The clinic that I am working at today has a book entitled "Dancing With Cats." This is one of the many purely indescribable pictures from this book. I got this picture from their website.

Here is what this guy says about his tail:

"The tail balances the body and restores psychic equilibrium."

Here is another brilliant quote from the book:

"We dance with and in and through the power of the feline spirit."

And another. This one by the authors:

"It is our hope that this book will encourage others to experience that uplifting energy by dancing with their cats and, in doing so, help facilitate a greater understanding between us humans and our feline companions."

How do you really comment on such things? I'm really kind of in awe that people actually do this, much less paint themselves, and apply a freakin' tail to their thong!

I think that these people have some serious mental issues.

They actually meet at one another's houses to "hone their craft" and exchange ideas on how to improve their bond with their pussy.....um.....I mean pussycat....I mean cat.*

And apparently they have a modified ranking system of dancers. Seriously. Here's a quote about this chick from the book:



She is, "One of the world's most accomplished cat dancers..."

Continuing, the quote goes on, "Arija's high levels of etheric energy enable her to dance with a variety of cats."



WOW!!! She's one of the world's most accomplished cat dancers!?!?!? How do you rank that? Do they have competitions? Do they all get together with their assorted felines and all have an orgy o' dancing, and then let the competition commence? I'm assuming that they all take massive amounts of narcotics before they "dance" with their cats.

How about this: "Cat dancers report a variety of physical sensations that range from 'pleasant tingling and lightheadedness' to 'whole body spasm and uncontrolled muscle quiver.' Such effects make it seem likely that the feline energy system is influencing the human system on a neuro-muscular level."

I'm guessing that the "body spasm and uncontrolled muscle quiver" that one experiences would be an orgasm? Or a "pussy-induced quivering" if you will.**

Anyway, I'm about spent over this subject. Keep on keepin' on.


*Sorry Annie, I had to do it.

**Again, sorry Annie. For those of you counting, that's twice I've used the "P word" in this post in a non-sexual way. You are most welcome.

Real Quick

I'm about to hit the sack, but before I do, I just wanted to inform you that Annie and I are heading to the A&M/OU game!!! And we got FREE tickets!

Stick that on a stick and smoke it.

I may not be posting for the next few days or so. I know........I know. You are devastated.

Keep on keepin' on.

An Interesting Little Sunday

How do I start this post? Let me first preface what I'm about to describe it pretty interesting and was pretty dang surreal. I'm not saying that these people are wrong or judging them, but let's just say that Annie and I felt pretty dang uncomfortable.

I was watching TV the other day and I found out that a national minister was going to be speaking at a local church. So Annie and I are decided to go and see him, knowing nothing about the church itself (insert eerie foreshadowing here).

Let me say first that I had never seen this pastor actually preach. I had just seen him lecture. When he lectured, he simply talked normally, like any one of us do. What happened to us was nothing of the sort.

We show up to the church, and it's a very nice building. The service was supposed to start at 10:30, and by about 10:29, only 1/2 of the seats were filled. That's when I got a the feeling that this was going to be a long, long service. I told her that and she looked thrilled. The reason that I thought that was because churches that have long services, tend to not "fill up" until about 30 minutes into the service. Oh how I was right.

The people are very, very into the service, most of the people are dancing in some way, and a lot of them are crying. Crying. Almost everybody was speaking out loud different things. Different, but we are still half-way O.K. with the situation. We just figured that they were really into the music.

After an hour (an hour!!!) of music and singing (which I think was a tad much), the pastor of the church came up to introduce the guest minister. While he did that, he all of a sudden started "speaking in tongues." For a long time. We just sat there, not really sure what to think about what was going on.

Then the guest pastor gave his sermon, which was fine. What was about to happen, neither Annie or I were quite prepared for.

He then asked people to come up front if they had certain problems in their life. So a dozen or so folks went up front, and he started praying for them. OK.

Pretty soon, we see people starting to drop. I mean he was laying his hand on their heads, and then they would fall back and onto the floor. One woman, after seeing another woman drop, came over to her with a small blanket and fanned her for a while and then placed it over her like a blanket. The woman was laid out for about 10 minutes.

While in the midst of this, the pastor started speaking in tongues too, all the while, people are dropping like flies. He would put his hand on their heads, shake violently, and then the person would fall to the floor. No lie.

I have to say, that I was hoping that he was going to lay Annie out too. I think that she would have enjoyed it. :)

Needless to say, we were at a loss for words. At this point the service has been going on for over 2 hours, and we really didn't want to leave it early, but since there was no end in sight, we discretely exited stage left.

Talk about "The Road Goes On Forever." Wow.

After we left, Annie said, "I feel like I need to either cry or take a 3 hour nap." I told her that I was pretty drained too.

So we made a deal to head back there next week.

Just kidding.

I'm still trying to absorb all that occurred during that church service. I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. For instance, what do the people "feel" when they get laid out? Do they feel anything when they are laid out on the floor? Or are they just exhausted and they can't get up? And can I get them to do that to Annie? Or can I do that to Big R on command? I'd like to be able to do that; I think it would be pretty fun.

Well, keep on keepin' on. And the moral to the story: Research a church before you attend it.

Oh, I Forgot

I'm so sorry. I forgot to mention that one of my clients today had the name of "G. Himann."

It only would have been better if his name would have been "Busta Himann." That would be cool.

You are welcome.

Kickin' It Old School

Today I'm at a clinic that's not exactly a new building. I think that it was built sometime around the age of the Egyptian pyramids. One interesting accessory is the duct tape covering up massive holes in the linoleum. It's also holding down random parts of the linoleum down, kind of like a patch. Classy. He has computers but they aren't being used for any veterinary purposes that I can see. Confusing, to say the least.

My technician is a man, about 60 years old, who smokes like a chimney. He's a nice guy, but he doesn't exactly move very quickly. Right now he is cleaning a dog's teeth.. I'm just ready for lunch, and my daily nap. I know, it's a rough life. A brotha's just got to get by.

I just pulled 4 teeth from a poodle. The pooch is gonna be gumming it now.

Public service announcement: Have your pets teeth cleaned by your veterinarian regularly. It will save you hassles in the future.

Annie is gonna watch the best boy band in the world tonight (it's Rascal Flatts, in case you are wondering). And no, Lil N, it's not NKOTB. I wonder if they are gonna play their hit song, "Backstreet's Back, Alright!" Wait, wrong boy band. Anyway, she's gonna be in Austin for the next two nights, so I'm gonna be a bachelor for a while. Time for naked chicks dancing on Cameltoes' and my table!*

I hope that they actually play Game 4 of the World Series tonight. There's talk that it may get postponed again. Go Cards!

I'd better get back to the real world. Keep on keepin' on.

*Annie, no strippers will be dancing on the table. And I'm just giving you a hard time about "The Boys". I know that you absolutely love them.

I Love San Antonio

Annie and I had a great weekend in San Antonio, as always. Here's the breakdown of our weekend.

Friday we left Annie's around 7:00 P.M., which was kind of a late start, but I had to work until 6:00. We drove straight to Austin to stay with her grandparents. We finally made it to north Austin by 11 P.M. Not a fun drive, because we hit nasty traffic in Austin, and that forced us to take a crazy detour.

Her grandparents we waiting for us, and we had a nice chat with them until we reached a point of utter fatigue. We then got up around 6:30 Saturday morning so we could leave by 8:00. We made it to Sea World (finally after a mistake by me) by 10:30. It was great weather then, and best of all, there were very few people there. We basically had a lot of the park to ourselves for the first 2 hours that we were there.

We even rode on one of the roller coasters, and had zero wait there. Annie was scared to say the least, and the 2 guys that sat in the car in front of us got a kick out of her repeating, "Oh gosh, oh gosh!" That was pretty funny.

For those of you that are considering going to Sea World, I would tell you one thing: Just remember that it's designed for kids, so keep that in mind.

Except for the Busch bar. They have a beer tasting deal where you get to try 4-5 different beers and eat chocolate, fruit, cheese and crackers. You also get 2 free drinks there too. If I wasn't so tired by the time we went there, I would have fully taken advantage of that situation. Plus, we were only a few hours away from real drinking at Judy's house, that I really wasn't concerned about getting a shortage of beer in my system for the day.

Also, don't bother with the whale and dolphin show. It pretty much consists of a bunch of gay men (and some women) performing crazy dances/acrobatic moves, with a little whale or dolphin tricks thrown in. So bear that in mind if you heed my advice.

After finishing with Sea World we headed over to Big Judy's house. Annie and I took a short nap, before we had to get ready for the night's activities. My best friend from undergrad and his wife came over too. We had a good dinner and then headed over to the dance hall.

Long story short, Big Judy started drinking like a fish. Seriously. So, it wasn't too long before he was too drunk to be able to keep his head off the table. Until the bouncer told him that he had to keep his head off of the table. Seriously. It wasn't much longer after that moment that we went back home. On the way, Judy's wife and I thought that it would be a good idea to drunk dial her mom.....At 1:30 in the morning. She is a great mom and was glad to talk to us. I spouted off something about how she was lucky that she didn't have to drive our drunk ass home that night (which she had to do the last time I was in San Antonio). She just laughed and agreed.

Poor Judy had to be at work at 8 the next morning. We I get a call from him around 9 that morning, and he went on to tell me that he had already hurled 2-3 times that morning.

I was on the phone with him for about 5 minutes when he said, "Dude, I'm gonna have to let you go. I think that I'm gonna hurl."

I started laughing and asked him if he was serious.

He replied, "Dude I gotta go. I'm gonna hurl."

Click.

He really did have to go. I started laughing pretty hard. Poor Judy.

He managed to toss his cookies about a half dozen times this morning. Poor Judy.

We took off around 2:45. Traffic on I-35 is HORRIFIC! I think that the next time that we go to San Antonio, we are going to fly. It will just be easier, and much more relaxing.

Keep on keepin' on kids.

I Love This Job

This week is one of those glorious weeks where everything comes together at work. And I'm not even talking about cool cases that I saw, or everything going right. I'm talking about not seeing hardly any patients.

Monday was the only "busy" day that I've had this week, and that's not saying much. I wasn't exactly slow, but it was steady, and I had plenty of time to play on the computer inbetween appointments.

Tuesday I took off. No trabajo.

Wednesday, as I was driving to work, I had a great feeling that it was going to be a slow day. I had no idea how slow it was actually going to be though. I think that I saw 4 patients all day. So I mainly sat on my butt and played on the computer.

Today has also been very slow. I even got a 3 hour lunch today, and I could have really taken a 5 hour lunch and nobody would have missed me. Seriously. Five hours.

I'll take these days as often as I can get them, as I get paid the same amount whether or not I see 1 patient or 100. And to borrow an interesting phrase that works well here, "It's all pink on the inside."

I'm looking forward to heading out of town this weekend. San Antonio is one of my favorite towns to visit. I just hope that Annie can keep track of her purse this time. (Last time we went to San Antonio, she got her purse stolen out of her Explorer minutes before we were supposed to leave, thereby delaying us about 3 hours or so.).

I'd better get back to doing nothing. Keep on keepin' on.

I Need A Hobby

I really don't have much else to do with my life now that poker is out of my life. I used to spend a lot of time playing cards, and now I have a void to fill.

I have kind of given up on the band thing, I guess. I can't even remember the last time I picked up my guitar. It's kind of tough playing when you don't have anyone else to jam with. I really should sell my guitar equipment, so I can at least get some cash out of it, although it won't be anywhere close to what I paid for the stuff. It's just sitting there taking up a lot of space. But, maybe I won't.

Annie and I are going to San Antonio this weekend. We are going to stay at her grandparents on Friday night in the greater Austin area. Then Saturday will be spent at Sea World. After that, we are going to Big Judy's house for dinner with him, his wife, and my friend from college and his wife. I'm not exactly sure what we are going to do after dinner, but I'm sure it will be fun.

I've been in a funk today. I really don't want to work, or do much of anything today. I need a vacation. Wait....Didn't I just go on one with the lovely Annie? Yes. We did. But now it's over 6 weeks later, and I would like to go on another one. I think that I'm getting a little burned out with the work stuff.

I found out a few weeks ago that a veterinary agency is going to open up in Colorado. How fun would that be if I could get some work there, and then turn it into a working vacation? Just a thought, but I don't think that I'll be able to do it, as long as I'm going to work at the clinic here that's being built. Nothing like a back-up plan though, right?

Last night, Annie and I took my dog Earl to a lake near my house. It was a beautiful day, and it was very nice to sit on the beach (if you can call it a "beach") and just relax. I think that Earl had a good time too. I really wish that my parents wouldn't have sold their boat, because I really would have a fun time with it. But, the boat was starting to become pretty unreliable, and would occasionally leave one stranded in the middle of the lake. Not fun.

I guess I'd better stop this insanity. I'll see you on the flipside.

Keep on keepin' on.

Rainy Days And Mondays

They do always get me down. Although I can't stand that song, can you?

It's been raining cats and dogs around the DFW metroplex quite a lot the last 2 days. And now I'll tell you a very lame joke that I made up:

I sure am glad that we are in a veterinary clinic, because it's raining cats and dogs out there.

Ba-dum-dum-ching.

Horrible. I know. I really should get a life.

The Cowboys/Texans game was a lot of fun. We even managed to stay very dry too, thanks to the roof at Texas Stadium. Our seats put us right in front of the cheerleaders. Horrible, I know. We suffered through the game, going between the players and the action on the field, to the cheerleaders, and the action there. It was a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Cameltoes took a few pics of them, so I might be able to post one or two on here at a later date.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the new Cowboys stadium will look like. I've tried to see what it will look like, and all I've seen are some cheesey pictures that don't really show me very much.

This is pretty boring, so I think that I'll end the insanity now.

Keep on keepin' on.

GO COWBOYS!!!

Dr. Toes and I managed to get SWEET (and FREE) tickets to today's Cowboys/Texans game. And a free parking pass. So Chief Pounds on Toes and I are leaving in about 20 minutes to head to the game. Jealous????

Too Much Fun

Here is a story that I found on Fox News' website. This is way too funny and I'll add my comments in bold as we go along:

Researchers Surprised by Size of Syrian Camel Bones
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Associated Press

O.K. Now that alone deserves a little snicker. Just that headline. I wonder if the camel "bones" are of the male variety or the female variety. As in cameltoes, or camelschlong? Hmmm.

"DAMASCUS, Syria — Hunters stalked giant camels as tall as some modern-day elephants in the Syrian desert tens of thousands of years ago, (Damn, those are some really, really big cameltoes, huh?) and archaeologists behind the find are wondering where the camels came from and what caused them to die off. (I bet they died off from too much exposure to the sun, which then led to dried and cracked cameltoes. And since none of the males liked dried and cracked cameltoes, they wouldn't mate with the females, thereby leading to their demise.)

The enormous beasts existed about 100,000 years ago and more of the bones, first discovered last year, have been found this year in the sands about 150 miles north of the capital, Damascus.
The animal, branded the "Syrian Camel" (Or as I like to call them "Cameltoes With So Much Hair You Could Wear It As A Wig") by its Swiss and Syrian discoverers, stood between three and four yards high — about twice the size of latter-day camels (with their ever so dainty cameltoes. I spit in your general direction.) and the height at the shoulder of many African elephants.

"The camel is a dromedary but extremely big and extremely tall — about double the size of a modern day camel," said Jean-Marie Le Tensorer, who led the Swiss side of the team.

The camels did not appear to have been bred by humans as beasts of burden, the scientists said, raising questions about its provenance — and disappearance. (I really don't think that cameltoes should be used as "beasts of burden, do you?)

"What we want to know now is: where did it come from, and why did it disappear never to be seen again? Was it migrating from Asia to Africa?" said the team's Syrian leader, Heba al-Sakhel. (One has to wonder about disappearing Cameltoes, and why Chief Pounds On Toes decided to leave)
Le Tensorer said humanoid bones were discovered at a nearby site and stone tools used by early humans were found with the camel's bones, which are thought to be up to 100,000 years old.
"The bones — a fragment of an arm and a tooth — are, of course, of the hunter of the giant camel. He probably stalked his prey to a water spring where he came to drink," said Le Tensorer. (Don't you just love hunting for cameltoes? I know I do.)
"Ordinary camels appeared in the [Middle East] region some 6,000-7,000 years ago and, for the first time, we have a wild form and very, very old," he said." (and nobody, I mean nobody, likes "ordinary cameltoes." Everybody likes the "wild form" of them, but I'm not so sure about the "very, very old" cameltoes. You can have 'em.)


Now Annie, wasn't that funny?

Keep on keepin' on.

Awwwwww

Here's my Daisy. Isn't she cute? Awwwwww. And all the ladies go.......gush.

Back In The Saddle

Today I returned back to the working world, which is kind of refreshing considering how my week has gone thus far. I haven't worked since Monday, Tuesday I couldn't find any work, Wednesday was my small claims court trial, Thursday I asked off because I was still pretty sick, and today, I feel better, but I'm still blowing quite a lot of snot into assorting items(Kleenex, paper towels, shirt sleeves, little kids, you know, the usual.)

The stress in my life has now drastically been reduced, and for that I feel much better. Now I can kick it again like the crazy cracka that I am. Holla if ya hear me!!!!!

O.K. I'm back. Sorry about that last sentence. I'm not really sure what got into me.

I just got done removing the testicles from a very large Lab. And only one of them was actually in his scrotum (meaning the other one was still inside his abdomen). So I had to find the other one that decided that it liked the party better on the inside (probably because the drinks are better), so to speak. It took me a while to find that other sucker, as it was very small, and hiding out behind the bladder. But it was all in days work.

That's why they call me "Supervet." Well....um....they don't so much as call me that as much as "That tall drink of water," and I can't blame them. Just ask Annie.*

Cameltoes and I got Big R and Lil N's "save the date" magnet in the mail yesterday. How cute. So I guess that means we should probably show up, huh? Just kidding Big R.

I just figured out that I was a bit off on my estimate net from the court case if I actually collect it. It's not as impressive. Oh well, I'll take what I can get and not complain at all.

I think that's enough rambling for the day. Keep on keepin' on.

* Annie just rolled her eyes at that part, just FYI to my fellow readers.

End Of An Era

Well, I closed down my Neteller account, after getting $600 stolen and not reimbursed. I had to wait until today, because I had pending monies in random poker accounts. So, sadly, it's over. No more online poker. I think that I'll cry for most of the day.

Now I just have to hope that Totalbet will actually mail me my money from my account. We shall see. I could really use that $300 or so.

Keep on keepin' on.

And The Verdict Is......

in favor of me!!! Here's the short version of my small claims court case:

I was awarded about $2500. His lawsuit was thrown out pretty quickly because he had nothing to stand on. In fact, his lawsuit made him look absolutely retarded, especially as a licensed realtor. And the judge made him realize that too. We even gave him a chance to settle out of court for $500 right before the trial. He said, "No. I'm here to sue." LOL!

But that's for now, because he can appeal. And my lawyer thinks that he will. Which means that I'd have to take off another day of work, and fly down to Houston again. I really, really hope that he doesn't, and it's not even about me getting $1400 (the net after paying my lawyer and my old roommate). I simply don't want to have to go back down there and do another trial. I'd try really, really hard to settle again out of court, if he decides to appeal. I'll bring it down to a net of $200 to settle out of court. At least that would pay for my flight down there, and I'd be essentially in the hole my deposit, which would put me exactly where I was before this entire fiasco started. Kinda funny how justice works, huh?

At least I'm feeling better now from my cold. I'm still blowing my nose every 10 minutes, but at least I feel about 65% now. Not too shabby, considering how horrific I felt on Tuesday.

I was supposed to work today, but I got someone to cover my shift, so I'm in recovery-mode today. So far, I've checked my email and typed this blog. Not a bad start to the day.

Keep on keepin' on.

Not Cool

I went to bed pretty early, for me, last night. I was in bed by 10:15, and I fell asleep almost instantly. Then I woke up at 2 AM to the feeling of somebody shoving needles in the back of my throat every time I swallowed. So, I got up and took a sweet concoction of Advil and Tramadol. I fell back to sleep shortly thereafter, and when I woke up about 45 minutes later, the pain was gone. Ah, the miracles of modern science.

I managed to remain awake, fully awake from 3:00 A.M. to about 5:00 A.M. So what did I do? I listened to talk radio. There was a dude talking about the "End Times." He talked about a lot of what I already know, but it was still pretty interesting to listen to da man speak. His own personal opinion, was that the end is within 10 years. I can't say that I disagree or agree, because "no man shall now the day or the hour," of Christ's return. Pretty scary stuff though, if you really start thinking about it.

Again, I managed to put in doom and gloom in my post. Sorry. It's probably because I feel like doom and gloom, or as I like to put it, a lump of ass.

Here's something exciting: Tomorrow morning, I get to fly down to Houston and have my day in court. For those of you that don't know, here's a recap:

My old landlord stole my deposit, and I asked him twice to send me receipts of the "repairs" of the place. He never sent them to me, because I really don't think he did the "repairs." I then sent him a letter that said if he didn't return my deposit, in full, I'd take him to court. So he sues me, that same day that he got the letter. So, I then counter-sue him, and here we are.

So by about 3 PM tomorrow, I'm either going to be up anywhere from $0-$4,500 or down $0-$4,500. Talk about variance. Basically it's a range of +$4,500 to -$4,500. I sure hope it's in the positive direction. The law "should" be on my side here, but since small claims court is a circus, it's anybody's guess as to who will win. I'm mainly just ready to get this sucker over with.

I guess the outcome of this trial will greatly determine what I can buy my loved ones for Christmas, won't it?

Keep on keepin' on. And maybe through a prayer out for a brotha.

Sick, Again!?!?!?!?

Well, almost 1 month to the day, I'm sick again; with a cold. You have got to be kidding me. So, now I've got an unholy 1-2 punch of allergic runny/stuffy nose with a cold-induced runny/stuffy nose. Nice. So, basically, I'm suffering from a never-ending fit of nose blowing. I bet that you are very please that I shared that with you, huh? I'm thinking that something is aloof in me immune system. Methinks I need to stop frequenting those "massage parlors." Maybe that's what's got meself all jacked up, but everyone likes happy endings, right?

Well, I'm at a new clinic today, and it's looking like that it will be a pretty slow day, and for that I'm very grateful. It's kind of nice getting paid the same amount, now matter how much "work" you do. Not a bad gig, if you can get it.

Unless you've been dead this morning, you know about the N. Korea nuclear bomb test that went off today. Scary, scary, scary.

Enough of the gloom and doom, at least the Cardinals won last night. I'm loosing about all interest in the baseball playoffs. I guess I'll glance at the Cards now and again, but since the Twinkies got swept, I don't have a lot of interest in it.

And don't get me started about the Cowboys. Drew Bledsoe should be benched. I can't fault the offensive line too much, because the Eagles worked that blitz pretty dang effectively. Anyway, I'm pretty hacked off about the game, so let's not talk about it anymore, ok?

Well, I'm off to maybe try to sleep a few minutes.....or not. Someone just walked in. Off to work.

Keep on keepin' on.

Hard On A Brotha

The freakin' Spankees won last night. Detroit let them get too far ahead, which you obviously can't do. The Twins lost yesterday and did again today. Kinda tough to come back when you are down 0-2 in a 5 game series. Looks like I may not have to watch the rest of the playoffs.

Today has been an interesting one. I went to lunch with the owner of the clinic that I work pretty regularly. We had a good conversation, and he even paid for my lunch. Not too shabby. He, again, offered me a job, if I want it. Interesting proposition.*

I've been a busy cracka this afternoon though. I've had to work my mojo on a few cases too.

The other day, Annie and I were in Target, and I saw a T-shirt that I think that I told her that I should wear at my new clinic. It said, "I Like Hot Moms." It's a joke that I say to Annie about our upcoming clinic. You see, it's gonna be built in a pretty well to do neighborhood, and there will be plenty of soccermoms that will come into the clinic. I figure if I wear the T-shirt, it can only increase our business, right?

I hope that all of you appreciated the link to the Soul Texturizer product yesterday. I know I did. You're welcome.

It's interesting to think about how one decision can change you entire life's path. For instance, if I had not decided to move to Ft. Worth, I never would have met Annie. Or, if I decided to not work at the new clinic, and take this job, or any other job offer. It's funny how life works out.

It's kind of like the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. You'd get to a point in the story where you'd have to make a decision, and if you chose option A, you'd go to page 120, and if you chose option B, you go to page 69 (It's no coincidence that I chose 69 as the page number in this example. Yes, I'm a 14 year old boy.). I'm not really sure why I've been thinking about this today, but I thought I'd get you all loyal readers (all 3-4 of you, depending on the day) to start thinking about it.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that all of this school shooting crap is pretty scary. Dem chillins be some crazy mofo's.

Poker Speak:

I finished my Poker Room bonus. I'm now finished with online poker. The net result? -$82
That's including the $180 bonus. As you can see, I'm not exactly a stellar poker player. Although, $170 of the loss came from a single 1.5 hour session at $3/$6, playing 2 tables, so it's not that bad, I guess.

I did go through some of my poker stats, and I came up with this sobering fact: I'm a break-even poker player. Or, roughly one. If I exclude the very small sample size of my $3/$6 play, then I'm up about a few hundred bucks since January of 2005. Not exactly encouraging. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise that my Neteller account got hacked into. I started realizing that without the numerous bonuses, I'm a break-even player. It's kind of sobering to realize that. I thought that I was a lot better than that.

But there are a few things that probably contributed negatively to my bottom line:
1) I started multi-tabling. By multi-tabling, one cannot keep up with the subtleties of the game. And that increases with each additional table.

2) I started playing more "in a hurry" to clear that given bonus. By that I mean that I would play when I didn't really want to, just to clear the bonus. I would also add another table or 2 in just to increase the clearance rate, even if it was too tired/angry/drunk etc.

3) I almost gave up on taking notes on players, which is pretty much related to reason #1. It's too hard to keep track of who the crazy players are, and who the fish are, etc., when you are playing multiple tables.

So there you have it, my farewell speech to myself about online poker. And you may have noticed that I took down the poker links that were on the right. That's because I really don't want to risk getting thrown in jail for it. With the new bill that passed in the Senate, The Man can, in theory, throw a brotha in jail, just for linking a poker site on their website. And I wasn't exactly making any money on them anyway. Actually, I wasn't making any money from them.

So, Totalbet is going to send me my $ via snail mail, because the Cryptos ain't liking the U.S. players anymore. And I withdrew my final dollars from Poker Room and Will Hill. *Sniff, sniff*

Good bye online poker......It was fun. Thanks for the memories.

Oh well. There's always casino poker. Whooooooooo Hooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Keep on keepin' on.

* And not in the sick way that you were thinking of, Big R. Shame on you for thinking about "that" type of proposition.

Freakin' Yankees

Well kids, today officially starts off the 2006 MLB playoffs, and, of course, the freakin' Yankees get prime time coverage. This really pisses me off. There are some really good games for today, and some really good pitching matchups. Too bad that nobody is going to see them. I really would have liked to have watched the Twins/A's game today, although now that I know that the Twins lost, maybe it's good that I didn't.

The only team that I'm rooting for this year is the Twins. I guess that I can throw in the Cards, just because I'd rather have them win it then anybody else in the NL, although the Padres would be a close 2nd. On the AL side, I definitely don't want the A's or the freakin' Spankees to win.

I've had a pretty interesting day at the clinic today. I've had a lot of weird cases come in, and they have been ongoing and chronic cases, so I have been clueless. It's really hard to treat a case that you have no info about, especially when it's been going on for years. It kind of makes you look like an idiot, which I'm pretty good at doing anyway. I even had one lady get mad at me because I wouldn't give her dog a "shot."

Like I had some sort of cure-all shot that I wasn't giving her dog, just to be mean. Honestly Lady, do you think that I wouldn't give your dog a "shot" if it needed one?

Today is a good day because my paycheck is $140 more than I thought that it was going to be! Yipee! I'll net about $90 of that, so at least I can buy a few lap dances and a 12 pack of beer.*

I'm really, really ready to get home. Chief Pounds on Toes and I are going to order a pizza, and watch the Tigers/Spankees game tonight. I'm also going to finish the Poker Room deposit bonus and exit the online poker realm for good. *Sniff, sniff*.

On a related note, I just got emails from UKbetting and Totalbet announcing that they were closing my accounts because I live in the U.S. Party Poker and Pacific Poker will follow suit if George W. Bush signs the bill into law, which he most certainly will. There's gonna be some interesting rifts coming up.

Keep on keepin' on Brothas and Sistas.

* Don't worry, Annie. I won't be getting any lap dances. I will, however, buy some beer. And some Soul Glow Optimum Texturizer, for my sweet Afro curls, but I'll have to save that for a special occasion.

Astros Win 7 Straight????

Really??? Did the Astros just win 7 straight games while simultaneously having the Cardinals lose 7 straight games? Am I in a dream? If so, don't wake me up, because this is too crazy. Leave it to the Astros to make it crazy during the last week or 2 of baseball. It sure does make things interesting though.

Yesterday consisted of a lot of lounging on my part, since the clinic I was supposed to work at canceled on me at the last minute (they also canceled my Thursday shift too, bastages). I actually watched television, and it wasn't sports. I watched a 1 hour long documentary about hippopotamus. Pretty interesting.

After lunch, I decided that I'd probably do something productive, so I did a boatload of laundry. I even washed my bedspread *oohs and ahhhs*

Well, my dad and I didn't get TCU football tickets for tomorrow's game. Bummer. I was really looking forward to going too. Also, Annie and I didn't get the Cowboys tickets that we were hoping to get. Bummer II. Now we just need to see if we can manage to get A&M/OU tickets for my birthday. Hmmmmm.

I just had to Min Pins come in back-to-back with vomiting and diarrhea. Different owners. What are the odds? One of them is pretty sick, so I'm going to have to hospitalize her, but the other one is better off, so I'm gonna try to treat him and send him home today. Both of them are overweight, and both were eating more than their fair share of table scraps. Word to the wise: Don't feed your dog human food. You'll pay for it later.

I'd better go and save some more puppies.

Here's a quote from one of my veterinary notes:

"........ and even minimal anesthesia (in dogs with a certain disease) may result in...death. Not likely, but very noticeable if it happens."

No kidding? Death is very noticeable? Wow.

Keep on keepin' on.

No Trabajo Para Me

I found out yesterday morning that my Tuesday and Thursday shifts were canceled. Great. So now, I'm at home and not earning any $. I do get about $80 for a cancellation fee. Who-hooo! I'm a rich hombre now! It's better than nothing, I guess. I'll take what I can get.

Today is Annie and my 6th month anniversary. *Applause, Applause* We are going to go to downtown Ft. Worth and celebrate. Man, it's been a long 6 months. Just kidding Annie.

I've pretty much just done laundry today. I did manage to clean up some junk out of my truck too.

I don't have anything very funny to talk about now. I just calculated some figures on a time frame for my arse to get outta debt, and it's not what I thought it would be. Kinda depressing. Oh well. I'll keep on keepin' on.

Do The Astros Have A Chance?

Well, the Astros sure do have a way of making life interesting in September. They managed to sweep the 1st place Cardinals, to put them to within 3.5 games of first place. So the magic number for St. Louis remains 5, and the Astros still have a BIG hill to climb. But we can still hope, right?

Sir Toes, Bubba, and I all went to the last Rangers game of the season yesterday, and my pale-skinned arse got SUNBURNED! But all in all, it was a good day, and we all had a good time. We got to the parking lot (for free!) about 1 hour and 15 minutes early, so Sir Toes and I did what any red-blooded American would do......Drink Beer. We had a few beers whilst waiting for the game to start. Bubba managed to show up right on time too. Good job Bubba!!! I gave him a good belly-rub for that too.

Annie and I are deciding on if we should attend a Cowboys game or not. It's hard on a brotha to have to make such decisions. I like the Cowboys, but I like the Aggies much better. But you can't really turn down a chance to tailgate, right? I'm waiting to see if we can buy the tickets or not.

Thanks to Big R for helping me with a tough case of mine. Big ups man, big ups.

Thanks to my Smoochie Sister for letting me use her house and guest bed for my lunch breaks when I'm in Arlington.

Thanks to Cameltoes for....um....not showing his cameltoes yesterday. He has been kind enough to show them to Big Judy a time or two, which was pretty dang funny. Especially Big Judy's reaction to it.

I may go to the TCU football game with my dad this Thursday. We can get free tickets, and since it's Dad's birthday on the same day, it will be a good time (maybe I'll buy him a beer or two for his birthday present). Although I never attended TCU, I've always at least liked them. Go Horned Frogs! LOL. I'd really like being able to just hang out with my dad, and maybe even have a real conversation for once. Madness, I know.

Stay black, and keep hope alive*. Keep on keepin' on.

*Sorry for the Jesse Jackson ripoff. I couldn't resist.

It Was Fun

Big R came up this weekend for our vet conference. Here's a quick breakdown of our weekend:

Wednesday, Big R and Cameltoes went up to Winstar to play poker. I, went to Annie's to be with her after her surgery (She's recovering well, fyi).

Cameltoes and Big R were greeted to a big puddle of nasty diarrhea, courtesy of my dog Earl. Sorry 'bout that Sir Toes. Thanks for cleaning it up.

I got up Thursday morning to go to work. Fun, I can assure you. After work, I went out to dinner with Annie, her mom, and her sister. I managed to embarrass them too, with some pretty funny comments. Annie said that they were over the line, but I think that it's pretty dang funny.

I made a comment about how that night we were going to play poker at my house. I mentioned that we were going to drink a few beers, and have lots of strippers and whores too. I then paused and said to Annie's mom, "But don't worry, we'll use condoms."

Funny, I know.

We then played poker at our house. I lost $14, most of that was on one hand versus Sir Toes. Big R lost $26. Poor, poor Big R.

Friday consisted of heading to the conference. Loads of fun, I can assure you.

We headed back home to change clothes, and head to the Rangers game. We had a great time at the game, and the Rangers even pulled out a win. A moot point, since they aren't going anywhere but there homes this October. After the game, we met our friend Cocktail at a hangout and had a good time. Sir Toes and Big R wanted to head to Winstar, but since it was pretty late, I politely declined. Sorry guys.

Now it's Saturday, and Big R left here around 11 this morning, so he can make it to the A&M game. Sir Toes and I have hung out at the house today, watched some football, and played some online poker. I managed to finally book a win at Poker Room. As soon as I can clear the bonus, then I'm finished with online poker. *Sniff, sniff.*

At least my Hawkeyes won today. If only the Cyclones can beat the hell outta t.u., then I'd be a very, very happy camper. Not likely though.

I've got a free steak dinner and drinks ahead of me tonight. Tough, I know. We are going to learn about Laser surgery. Fun, I know, but I can't pass up $40-$50 of free food/drinks. Cameltoes has politely declined. He's trying to lose the weight he gained whilst on his cruise. Pobrasito Cameltoes.

Keep on keepin' on.

Good News

Annie made it through her surgery free and clear. The great news is that they didn't have to remove a critical part of her anatomy. The bad news is that she has to be on medication for a long time, maybe even for life.

She sounds pretty loopy now, but that's good to know. She does kind of sound like a drunken sailor, which is pretty funny (without all of the cursing though).

She did get some good drugs for pain though, so I'm sure she'll be feeling a little more loopy in a little while, just in time for me to get there, I'm sure.

Keep on keepin' on. And thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Pray for Annie

Well, Annie is going to have surgery today. They are going to "explore", which is always fun, because you never know what you are going to find when you "explore." I know everything is going to be alright.

My family all ate dinner together last night (Dad, Mom, Annie and I, my sister, Bubba, and his girlfriend). It was very nice for all of us to be together. We kind of celebrated Dad's birthday a week early, and guess what? He got to pay the tab. Unfair, I know, but he's Dad.

Big R comes up today. I'm not really gonna see him though, because I'm going to be at Annie's house watching her recover from her buzz. I hope they give her some sweet pain pills, because I know how interesting she gets when she's had a few drinks, so I can only imagine how she'd be while under the influence of some sweet pain meds.

So Cameltoes, Big R and I will have to find out what we are going to do on Thursday night. Option 1: Play cards at the house.
Option 2: Go to a bar and hang out.
Option3: Go to Winstar and play poker.

I know you are on pins and needles waiting to find out what we are going to do. I'll tell you all about it though, so don't worry.

I worked on finishing off my Poker Room bonus yesterday, which will be my last adventure in online poker *sniff, sniff*. Net result: -$93, playing 3 tables of $2/$4. So now, in the process of chasing a $180 deposit bonus, I'm down $333. Nice. Now I'm trying to decide if it's even worth continuing on, because I can't exactly reload. It didn't help that I started off the site going down $170 on 2 tables of $3/$6. That didn't tickle.

Well, I'd better get off to work now. Time to make some money for da man.

Keep on keepin' on, and keep Annie in your prayers.

God bless.

Doctor los Dedos del Camello

Sir Toes (a.k.a. Chief Pounds on Toes) is coming back home today from his cruise to Mexico. Good for him. Now back to the real world for you Dr. Toes. Well sort of, because this week is a veterinary conference, and neither one of us will be working this Friday or Saturday. And Big R is coming up to hang with us too. Boys will be boys!!!*

We are going to go to a Rangers game this Friday, so that will be nice for all 3 of us to go to a game. It's been quite a while since that has happened. Although, the game will be moot, because there is a better chance of me streaking across their ballpark, then the Rangers making the playoffs.**

I am officially ending my run at online poker very, very soon. I officially got burned out of $600 that somebody stole from me. Neteller will not refund the money (which I understand) and I don't really feel safe using any other method of payment, because there is no reason that they couldn't get that info too. I'm pretty upset about this entire thing, but I can't risk getting more $$$$ jacked from the $#%%**#(@$ that took it. I hope that they put the money to good use too. Whatever. Like that will happen.

So it's kind of an end of an era. I will officially not talk about online poker anymore. I won't have a lot to talk about, since I won't exactly be playing anymore. *Tears shed. Sniff, sniff*

Keep on keepin' on.

*Boys will be boys is a loose term used to describe how the 3 of us will act this weekend. This will include reading, talking intensely about what we will have learned at our conference, and will certainly NOT involve any drinking of beer.

**I know that any ladies reading this are now disappointed that I will not be streaking. I'm sorry for the let-down.

Poor Brandi

Annie's dog Brandi has had a rough couple of days. Here's a rundown:

Monday: I performed surgery on her to remove a bunch of bladder stones

Tuesday: No problems.

Wednesday: She chewed out her stiches, which made her insides come out. Not good for those of you keeping score. I called my future boss, who lives about 5 minutes away, to see if he had any materials. He did and so Annie, Brandi, and I drive to his house. I then perform an emergency surgery on her dog on the garage floor.

Thursday: Go back into surgery to repair everything.

Friday: *Fingers crossed* She's feeling much better. She's wearing a lampshade to keep her from chewing out her stitches.

Gonna eat some fajitas now.

Keep on keepin' on.

Sorry

I apologize to my 1 reader out there for not posting, but we have been on vacation, and since I've been back, I've been one busy tall, skinny, white guy.

I'm not really sure how many people actually read this anymore though, so I may not be disappointing too many of you.

I did surgery on Annie's Lhaso Apso mix dog on Monday. She had numerous bladder stones that needed to be removed. The surgery went well, as did Brandi (her pooch). We even cleaned her teeth. Exciting.

I am working on my journal of Annie and my vacation, but it's still a work in progress, so don't hold your breath.

Annie's version is pretty good, but she only has 2.5 days written, and I'm trying to get her to keep writing.

Poker Content:

I just got an email from Littlewoods Poker that said that they will not longer be accepting U.S. players. Methinks it's only a matter of time before more sites continue that pattern. I think that other Crypto sites will soon follow suit, considering that a lot of their players are from outside of the U.S. We shall see what soon follows.

Neteller is waiting on my call to figure out the details on my newest adventure. I got $600 stolen from my Neteller account. This time, somebody hacked into my Pacific Poker account, and withdrew money from there. Not cool.

Keep on keepin' on

Wow, Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Here it is already, Thursday. The last days have flown and I'll give you a quick rundown of the events.

Monday, September 4, 2006:

I woke up Annie at about 7:00 A.M. She wasn't really that thrilled.

We had one heckova breakfast at the Super 8 (cereal and toast). They really went all out for us then. Although we did see an interesting group of people, who were all eating together. We had the token 2 big women (for Big R, of course), complete with trashy tattoos, and inappropriate clothing for a public outing (one of them was wearing a lingerie top. *Vomit*). With them was a Mexican girl about 20 or so. Then, the weirdest of all, there was an oooooooh sooooo Asian couple with them. One big happy family, I guess.

We took off for my old hometown that morning. Wow. Some things never change.

I got to see the 2 one room schoolhouses that I attended for 5 years. They are now hunting cabins, because the schools closed down a few years ago, due to lack of kids. What a surprise, because there is absolutely nothing out there. Nothing. Grass, grass, and more grass. Sprinkle in a few cattle here and there, and you have South Dakota. But I digress.

We made it to my friend's house, where we were going to stay for the night. She is a very nice 70 year old widow lady, who lost her husband about 15 years ago. Very sad, but she is a very nice, and funny lady. I got to see some people that I haven't seen since we left 16 years ago. I didn't get to see any of my old friends though. And I didn't really care. I mainly wanted to see my old house, and the schools.

Annie and I got the grand tour of the small town (which has a total of 4 houses in it). We even got to see the fire trucks for the volunteer fire department. That was actually kind of cool.

Annie and I took pictures of a very, very small Lutheran church, located by itself on a hill. It does have electricity, but no running water. Where do people go to the bathroom? In a fully-functioning 100% pure outhouse. Seriously. The church has, if everybody attends, 15 people in it. WOW.

We did get to see my old church, which I was very glad. It hasn't changed one bit, except they added on a small part, that has 2 classrooms in it. Since nobody locks their doors around there, we got to go inside the church. Annie was quite impressed. It's kind of sad, because the church doesn't have any kids in it. None. There are two age groups: those that are in their 70's and 80's, and those in their 40's and 50's. No kids. Sad, really.

Tuesday, September 5:

I woke up Annie at 7:45 A.M. She wasn't really that happy.

We got up that morning and went into "town". That's what they call it there, because the closest town is about 15 miles away. We got some more supplies, and I showed Annie the old place. Interestingly, quite a bit has changed there. It was good to see it though.

We reloaded on supplies, and gas (the next closest gas station was going to be about 80 miles away) to head out for our next adventure: Spearfish Canyons.

But on the way, we decided to take a trail that I happened to see. It took us to nowhere, which was exactly where I wanted it to take us. On the trail, there was a large mesa, or butte as they call it there, that Annie decided to climb. She got about 1/2 way up it, and I decided to catch up to her. We eventually made it up it, with a little encouraging from me. She did a good job of climbing up it, and avoiding any rattlesnakes that might have been lurking. The view from up there was breathtaking. We even saw a herd of cows.....not that we'd ever seen those before. I even did the last scene from "Dances With Wolves," where the Indian (feathers, not dots) friend calls out to Kevin Costner's character. (As an aside, we actually saw the place where they filmed that scene in Spearfish Canyons. Pretty cool).

You have to see Spearfish Canyons. Seriously. Just head south our of Spearfish, and you'll drive right through them. It's breathtaking. I had been there twice as a kid, and I remembered quite a lot of it too.

It started getting late so we decided to find a place to camp for the night. Now mind you, Sweet Annie has never been camping before. Ever. Where do I take her for her virgin camping experience? To a "primitive campsite." That means there is no running water, no showers, no electricity, and you get the privilege of going to the bathroom in an outhouse. Annie really loved that.

But to Annie's credit, she did great. She even liked the experience. We met a really nice couple that was in the campsite next to us. They let me use their axe, gave us lighter fluid, and even let us use there mad crazy fire/lighting thing. Let's just say that it ran on diesel fuel, and would stay lit for 40 hours. Pretty cool.

I made a campfire, and started cooking our dinner of cheeseburgers, hash browns and green beans. We then proceeded to enjoy some S'mores, which are almost required eating, whilst camping.

That night, the temperature got down to 38 degrees, so needless to say, it was a tad chilly. Annie made it through though, with minimal complaints. It was pretty cold though, I have to admit.

Wednesday, September 6:

We got up that morning and took it nice and easy, although Annie wasn't really thrilled at the time we woke up (around 7:00 A.M.). I cooked us breakfast burritos, and we broke camp, which actually didn't take us too long.

We then hiked down a trail to see a beautiful waterfall. We took a few pictures down there and then headed to Hill City, in the Black Hills, to make it for our 1:15 steam engine train ride.

We had a little time to blow in Hill City before the train, so we had lunch of sandwiches (for about the 5th meal of the trip) and other assorted food items. It was actually pretty nice, as we found a little picnic table near the train station.

It was a good thing that Annie made reservations for the train ride, because it was very full. The trip was 1 hour in each directions, with a 15 minute stop in between. I'm very glad that we went on it, because it was pretty relaxing, and it's a very interesting way to see the Black Hills. Going at 10 mph is a nice speed when you are enjoying the scenery. It was so relaxing, that I even took a very short nap on the way back to Hill City.

After the train trip, we headed to our cabin, which was at the Rafter J Ranch. I highly recommend it if you ever go to the Hills. It was there that we encountered a little rain, which lasted just long enough to get the ground wet, and then it stopped.

By the time we finished unloading the truck and getting things in order, it was dinner time. I made us a nice batch of sausage and sauerkraut. Mmmmm. We sat in front of the campfire that night, and had another round of S'mores.

We did manage to hear every word of a girl's conversation with her new mother-in-law. They were 2 cabins down from us, but considering how loud people talk on their cell phones, it seemed like she was right next to us. We had a good laugh though.

Thursday, September 7:

I managed to let Annie sleep in that morning (7:45 A.M.). Again, she wasn't exactly thrilled about getting up that morning. We showered, and packed the truck up again, for the days adventure.

We decided to see Mt. Rushmore first. I have seen it twice before, in the late 80's, when I was a kid. A lot has changed there (the monument hasn't, of course). They have some very nice buildings and other assorted architectural things now. You can even walk down on a trail that leads you "right under their noses." Annie even picked George Washington's nose. Figuratively speaking.

We finished that up pretty quickly, because there is only so much that you can do there, and continued on the day's adventure.

Next up: Bear Country. Bear Country is a wildlife park that you drive through. It was really pretty cool. We saw quite a few different animals, and of course, plenty of bears. They even had a Grizzly pair, (the male's name was Tank).

I met the man that wrote the biography of the guy that started the park. The author was a very nice man, and he even baited some of the animals so that they would come up close to us. I got a bunch of really good pictures of the bear cubs and wolf pups. Awwwwww. Annie had a great time there, as that was the place that she MOST wanted to see. It was nice to see her so excited and happy. I really enjoyed the experience too. It was a nice change of pace.

After that, I decided that we might as well see Crazy Horse Mountain, since it was on our way to the campground. I guess it's good to see, but I don't necessarily recommend it. The monument is barely finished, and I figure that it will take about 100 years more or so to finish. Seriously. They only have 5 people working on the mountain currently. FIVE FREAKIN' PEOPLE!!! To put the mountain into perspective, the entire Mt. Rushmore monument would fit into Crazy Horse's head. It's that big. Only now, you can only see the face. That's it. One dude that worked there said that it will take about 8-10 years just to finish blasting away the bulk material away from the horses head. Then, I can only imagine, it will take about 15-20 years to finish the horse's head. Then they'll have Crazy Horse's face, and his horse's head finished. Wow.

We paid $8 to take a bus ride close to the base of the mountain. That was pretty neat though. You could also pay $125/person to take a van ride up the the top of the mountain. Right under his nose. Annie and I thought that was a bit much, so we decided to decline.

While we were stopped on the bus trip, Annie and I saw 3 doe, which were completely content to munch on assorted shrubbery about 20 yards away from us. That was pretty cool.

So I'd see it if you have extra time in your Black Hills extravaganza, but only if you have the extra time, although the museum is pretty cool, if you have the time.

We then found our campground, and decided to stay in a "sleeping cabin." It pretty much consisted of a bed (which was a bunk bed) and a very small table. That's it. We took it because it was only $30 for the night (it did have electricity and a/c so that was nice.).

We had just enough time to drive through Needles Highway, before the sun set. It is a very pretty drive, and we had a good time driving through the wicked, twisted road. We drove through 3 one lane tunnels, but we didn't get to play chicken even once. Bummer. I did get to give Annie a scare or two by pretending to almost drive us off a cliff. Good times.

After our Needles Highway experience, we decided that we hadn't had enough of Crazy Horse, and opted to see/experience the Laser Light Show. It pretty much consisted of some lame graphics shown up on the mountain, backed up with even lamer music. All in all, Crazy Horse gets a thumbs down. Sorry. It could be so much more, but I think that it's lacking soooooo much.

So after experiencing that wonderful light show, we headed back to our "sleeping cabin." Long story short: I cooked tacos (NOT fish tacos), we ate, and we passed out.

Friday, September 8:

We set the alarm for 6:30 A.M., which Annie was REALLY thrilled about (I wasn't really thrilled about it either). We got ready, packed the truck, and headed out to Sylvan Lake, to walk along it during the early morning light. It was very nice, and very peaceful. I talked to a couple of retired men that were fishing. They weren't catching anything, and they were just fine with that. I think that they were just plain happy to be alive and fishing. Not a bad way to spend a morning.

The lake was glass, and I got some pretty cool pictures of it. There was even a wedding going on in an old church along the lake. Awwwwww. Big R, you're next.

We then drove through Custer State Park. Let me just say that I saw one of the coolest things I'd ever seen there. We were driving along, when all of a sudden we saw an Antelope buck, all by his lonesome. Only this one was about 75 yards from the road. I stopped the truck and shut off the engine. We waited and he proceeded to come to within 30 yards of the truck. Truly amazing. For those of you that don't know, antelope are very nervous. Before that day, I had never been closer to them than 100-150 yards or so. This was very, very cool.

We continued along and came upon a herd of asses, and I don't mean Big R and his friend. It was a herd of donkeys. Annie made me stop, so I did. She practically ran out of the truck, when she suddenly stopped. She stopped because an ass was rapidly walking up to her. She got pretty scared and started backtracking, with the ass continuing along toward her. She looked at me with a look that said, "Help me!" when I told her that they weren't gonna hurt her. She calmed down and then proceeded to make friends with all 15 or so of them. It made me laugh watching her with the donkeys. She was like a kid in a candy store.

I finally coaxed her from the asses, and we continued on our journey. We saw two pretty large bison herds, and we stopped and watched them for a while. There is something calming and nostalgic about watching those animals. It kind of makes you wish that you lived 150 years earlier, to witness the HUGE herds of them, tatanka that is.

Annie was quite thrilled at the sight of them too, as was I. We then proceeded to finish the tour of Custer State Park, which pretty much consisted of lot a pretty scenery.

We then set out to see the Badlands of South Dakota. I have one word to describe it: Beautiful. It was truly amazing. We spent about 3 hours touring the Badlands, stopping randomly to see/shoot pictures of it.

Along our drive, we came upon a very large prairie dog town, which Annie just LOVED. She even managed to get one of them to come right up to the truck. I mean right up to it. So close that if you opened the truck door and stepped out, you would have squished the little guy. It was pretty cute to watch the lil' varmet as he stood on his hind legs.

We then traveled along the road seeing a lot more of the Badlands then most people normally see (Because of my stellar map-reading skilz, I inadvertently sent us on a backroad tour. Exciting.).

Since all of this was so beautiful, and that all of our pictures were faded because of the harsh lighting, I really wanted to stay to see the sunset. We had finished touring the Badlands by 4 P.M., and that would mean that we would have about 3 hours to blow before sunset. I asked Annie if she would mind if we stayed until then, and she, like the doll that she is, said no. You see kids, we were supposed to head back to Texas that day, and by staying until after sunset, that would put us about 4 hours behind.

I even bought her dinner at the local diner, where Indians (feathers, not dots) served us a good, "just like Mom used to make," dinner. We then prepared for our hike into the wilderness for our photo shoot.

Long story short, it was awesome. We were in the middle of nowhere, just the two of us and 6 deer. It wasn't long before 3 of the does walked to within about 20 yards of us. It was surreal. Then the sun started setting, throwing reds, pinks, and purples onto the sky and the Badlands. We shot a bunch of pictures and had a great time. Until Annie saw the rattlesnake skin.

Rugh row shaggy. She hasn't spent a lot of time in the "wild", so she didn't really realize that the snake wasn't still attached to it. About 10 minutes later, I finally convinced her that they weren't gonna kill us. She did realize that snakes shed their skin, but this particular one looked really life-like to her. Poor Annie.

We finished our photographic safari, and started heading back south. We made it about 2 hours before I couldn't drive anymore, because I was about to pass out. We ended up staying in the Comfort Inn in Valentine, Nebraska. Sweet, sweet loving was had there, I can assure you.

Saturday, September 9:

We left Valentine, NE that morning around 9:15 or so. It's a long drive to Oklahoma City from there, especially when you are anxious to get back home. Long story short, we made it to Oklahoma City around 8:00 P.M. that night. We found a nice hotel that was off the beaten path a bit, but it was nice. It was nice to take it easy for a night, and not have to worry about anything, and just relax.

Sunday, September 10:

We got up that morning and headed out to the OK National Memorial. It's amazing. Very sobering. The memorial is really well done. They even left the plaza of the Federal Building, which was on the other side of the bomb blast, so it was left unscathed. It's surreal. You end up seeing door and staircases that lead to nowhere, because the building simply isn't there anymore. I HIGHLY recommend going to see this.

We then went to the museum there. Unbelievable. It's pretty hard to not shed a few tears there. They start you out on that day, before the attack, and then proceed to take you throughout that day and the years after that. It's amazing.

We made it back to my house by 6:30 P.M. What a trip.