Living In A Purple Haze

My head is pretty dang cloudy at the moment. Today is my interview with a vet who I worked for previously. I'm excited and scared about it at the same time. I really wish that I had a better grasp as to what exactly I am looking for in a full-time gig. I really, really like doing the relief thing, but the huge disadvantage of no benefits is kinda getting to me.

I also realize that I have a pretty big advantage since I'm the one in such high demand (and I'm not bragging here), so that puts most, if not all, of the edge in my corner. But still, with so many options it makes it hard to decide. I'm not complaining; merely voicing my current state of mind.

I'm also scrambling my monkey brain, trying to figure out a legal, relatively easy and low stress way to make some additional bank. At the rate I'm going, I'll be able to retire... never, so something's gotta give. I've got about a grand invested in one particular stock, so I've only gotten my feet wet as entering the world of "legal gambling", as my dad calls it. He also says, "The only way to learn about 'gamblin' is to get in there and lose."

Depressing, but true logic in a sense. As with most things, you never really understand something - unless you are wise - until you lose in it. But the key to wisdom is to learn from other people's mistakes. So the moral of the story is to learn from other people screwing themselves up, and go from there.

There are numerous opportunities to earn some extra bank, but the problem is finding 1-2 that will work. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of having to work for "The Man." "The Man" sucks. "The Man" don't give a damn about you. All that "The Man" cares about is getting His money and the hell with the details.

So I basically need to:

1) Make a plan. I need to figure out which route to go into and find the way to do it. I'm seriously thinking about real estate, as that seems the best way for me to make something. Especially at this time, since houses are dropping in price. Isn't that following the "Buy low, sell high" philosophy?

2) Set a definitive timetable to get this motha into action.

3) Grin and bear it...and hope that this motha takes off without having to give up my shirt that fits so nicely on my back.

4) Rinse, lather, and repeat on the next real estate investment. If, of course, the process is successful. If not, then try something else.

On a completely unrelated note, this weekend is a reunion of sorts. Cameltoes is returning from the State of Perpetual Liberalness (i.e. Oregon). Big R, Big Judy, and I are all gonna be back together for the first time since Big R's wedding in March. Of course, all of our significant others will be there too, and I'm sure that they will be majorly impressed with our guy humor. I know that Bean is.

Next weekend, I'm meeting Big R and Lil N in the Hill Country for a little deer hunting. I sure hope that I get me some Bambi. I'd sure like some venison to eat. Mmmmmmmm. Good. Maybe I'd even get me a big buck...well...er...big for that region. You see, the deer don't get too incredibly big out there. They're plentiful, but not too big. Good luck to me, because I could sure use another hide/mount on my wall.*

Keep on keepin' on folks.


* For the record, I have 1 cow hide, 1 coyote hide, 1 sheepskin, and 2 bull skulls in my house. Not too many dead animals, but just enough to give my pad some flair.

One Down, One To Go...

I had a job "interview" on Saturday. I put interview in quotes because in the world of veterinary medicine, it's kind of a loose term. Every interview I have ever had is very basic, and it is a chance for both parties to get to know the other person. Not once have I ever been asked a question like you would in a typical job interview.

Such as, "What is your greatest strength?" Or, "Tell me of a time when you solved a problem, and how you implemented that solution into action." Blah, blah, blah.

In fact, my interview for my previous clinic, the brand-spanking-new clinic that I'm about to leave, involved about 10-12 Miller Lite's. And capping the night off with watching "Team America: World Police." Seriously.

So, my interview on Saturday consisted of sitting down at dinner and talking for around 1.45 hours. In fact, very little of the conversation was actually involving the job and salary. Pretty laid back.

I have another interview tomorrow. It's with a vet that I worked for from April of 2006 to April 2007 on a part-time basis.

And I really don't even know if I want a full-time position. These interviews just kind of landed in my lap. Who knows what the heck I'm gonna do?

So, I'll keep on keepin' on.

My Life: A Constant State of Change

Apparantely, I cannot hold down a job for longer than about a week or so, because as of the first of the year, I'll be not working at the new clinic. I have decided to branch out and search for another place to work.

It does make me wonder about what in the heck I really want in a job.

This last one pretty much ended because my boss, or former boss, told me that he would pay me certain benefits. He apparently forgot to mention that he had no intention to actually pay said benefits. That kind of information might have been useful to tell me BEFORE I started working there! But I digress.

I now have about 3.5 job offers from 4 different clinics. One of which I am working at for the first time. I'm not quite sure about it either. It ain't bad, it's just not great. Plus, it's realy small and I can't fathom how they would fit 3 vets in this motha.

On a different note, Bean's dog tore her ACL and had surgery to repair it on Monday. She has been pretty dang stressed about the ordeal. Poor kid. Hang in there Bean.

Well I'm about to jet.

Keep on keepin' on.

My New Life

Well, I've been on the relief circuit for over 2 weeks now and I'm loving it! I've already taken off 2 Saturdays and I'm taking off this one too. Ahhh, the joys of freedom. It's not a bad gig really. I work at my "old" clinic on Mondays and Fridays, and I'll work 1-2 days/week at another clinic. That leaves 1-2 days/week for me to fill in with other jobs.

I've also made some progress on branching out into the mobile veterinary market. I checked out a local establishment and the owner has been looking for a vet to do low-cost vaccines at his store. The only problem is that another vet has been working at that location for a while. He only works there once a year, and I just so happen to know the guy. Which is both good and bad. It's good because I have a great relationship with him, and he really shouldn't care if I take that over.

We shall see.

The only major drawback to my part-time gig is that I have to travel a LOT to each job. For instance, one clinic is about 47 miles away. And that's not the worst part. The worst part of it is the traffic. I'm stuck in 5-35 mph traffic for almost all of that trip. Kinda makes a brotha go mad.

Aside from that, it's good. Plus, I am making a lot more $$$ now. I can actually pay my bills. Muy bueno.

Well, I hope all is well with my 1-2 readers out there.

Keep on keepin' on.

Interesting Twist

I know that I touched on this yesterday, but I have had some more news develop about my current place of employment. Here goes.

Yesterday morning, while I was busy getting ready for surgeries, my boss and a man were talking in the waiting area. I realized quickly that the man was not a client, but either a salesman or a veterinarian. My boss gave him a tour of the clinic, and the part that sent off warning sirens in my head was the fact that my boss never even thought of introducing me to the man. This is very, very strange, because my boss is a very outgoing and friendly man, and has always introduced me to people, especially other vets. Not this time.

I asked my kennel helper who the man was, and he said, "He's is a veterinarian."

At that, I knew that my job was on the line, but the nail in the coffin would be found out later.

Let me first state that my beef with my boss is that he promised to pay me certain benefits. I email him 2-3 times and wrote him a letter and the message in all of these was the same: my benefits package. I had to write so many letters because he refused to even have the common courtesy to give me ANY kind of response!

After these continual efforts on my part to establish my benefits package, which we has already agreed upon about 1.5 years ago, I decided to tell him that I needed to work for him on a part time basis. I took a $17,000 pay cut to work for him, and I explained that I'm losing $ because of him not paying me what we had agreed upon. I also might add, that in every letter that I wrote him, I stated that the benefits that I was asking for - which we had already agreed upon- were not asking too much. In fact, they were the bare bones minimum for a full time veterinarian.

We talked about my going to part time 3 times. The first 2 he told me that he wanted me to work Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Fine with me. Then the last time that we talked about it, he stated that, "We'll have to see about Saturdays."

I thought, "Good, he's finally making a smart decision and close the clinic down on Saturdays." I thought that because we are getting killed on Saturdays. We continually lose money then. He will especially lose money on Saturdays paying part time wages to a veterinarian.

Also, I'm scheduled to start working part time on Monday, October 15th. This will become important soon.

So back to yesterday. That afternoon, around 3:00 P.M., my boss told me that I needed to have my office cleaned out. My immediate thought was, "Holy cow, he's gonna can me."

I asked him, "What do you mean?"

He replied, "I need you to get all of the dog stuff (a bed and a child gate for the door, and a water bowl) and other things out of there because the next two Saturday, October 20th and the 27th, I have a relief vet coming in and she will need your office."

I almost blew a gasket. This information, combined with the fact that I knew he was pissed at me all day long, led me to the following conclusion. I'm about to be kicked out of here after the end of this month.

Unbelievable! I have almost single-handily built the business of this clinic. Now don't think that I'm out of line when I say this. I've worked 5 out of the 6 days of the week, each and every week, with 2 exceptions. I busted my arse to get the computer programs up and running and enter ALL of the prices in. In fact, I got this entire clinic up and running. And that's not an exaggeration. Every piece of equipment that is in this clinic, I got up and running. I got the bugs out.

But now I sound like I'm being...um...a brat. I'm just trying to explain how hard I've worked building this business up. My boss, has worked hard too, but he is only here 3 days a week, and 2 of those days, I'm here too. On the days that I'm here, he makes me see most of the patients. I put my heart and soul into this business. Such a tragic set of circumstances.

I'm pretty upset because he has gone behind my back and has someone else working on the Saturdays. There is one other detail that I must include...the plot thickens.

We have a calender that shows the vets schedule. It shows who is working what days, and when one of us will be gone. As I stated before, I will be working part time for him starting this Monday. After telling me to "clear my office out" and that "the relief vet will need my office," he shows me the calender. I see that she (the relief vet) will be working the next 2 Saturdays. I also see that for the rest of the month, every Tuesday and Wednesday has "Dr. Wood to work, or Relief Vet." So basically, he's gonna try to hire someone else to work those days, instead of me. He will pay the same amount for a completely new person to do that.

So to sum up, he said that he couldn't pay me the benefits that I wanted and we agreed on, but he can shell out about twice the amount that I'm getting paid, for part time vets to work the same days that I have been. He will pay DOUBLE because he's to in the clouds to realize that the approximately $300/month in benefits that should be paid to me is much less that paying twice my salary to other vets.

Hmmmmm. Something doesn't' add up here.

It boils down to this. He's pissed at me. Pissed that I want to go to part time work. So instead of doing the right thing for the business and have me working 2-4 days relief, he's gonna kick my booty out of here by the end of the month. I really think, and I'm about 95% sure on this, that he is going to try to hire the relief vet that will work these next 2 Saturdays.

So now I have to stay one step ahead of him. I think that I'm gonna tell him that I'll work through October, and then leave. That way I have about 2 weeks to find work to make up for what I was planning on working for him in November.

Another interesting proposition that Annie told me, was that I could start up my own mobile practice. I am seriously mulling it over as we speak. The major advantage of it would be the extremely low overhead (a vehicle, employee(s), drugs and vaccines, and other assorted supplies). That's it. Very little risk would be involved, and I figure that about $1,000 would get me up and running pretty quick. Plus, Annie said that she would help me by being my receptionist/tech, so my payroll would be pretty minimal.

Whatcha think about them apples?

Keep on keepin' on.

Another End Of An Era

Well, tomorrow is officially my last day of work as a full-time employee. Next week, I will be only working at this clinic on Mondays and Fridays. Pretty crazy how things have worked out. The short version is that my boss promised to pay me certain benefits, and refuses to pay them, citing, "insufficient funds" as the reason.

He has not answered my question of why didn't he tell me that he wasn't going to pay me the benefits before I started?

Madness.

And I just found out that I'm gonna need about $2,000-$2,500 worth of repairs for my truck. Not cool. I spent about $3500 on repairs on it last year, and I'm not very excited about the prospect of dropping another couple grand on it. At least it's paid for. Barely. I made my last payment on it in May, and right now it's got 122K miles on it.

I may be buying another vehicle soon. Bummer.

On a brighter note, Big Judy is coming up to see me tomorrow. Should be good times. I managed to even score us a couple of VIP vouchers to a local restaurant! They include a meal, drink, and a dessert for 2 people. Not too shabby. And the place is BYOB. Beautiful!

Keep on keepin' on.

Nice

For those of you that kept up with President "Tom"* and his speech to Columbia University in which he stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran, here's something pretty funny....in a sick way. I also realize that this story is about Palestine, and not Iran, but the premise is the same.

Read it and weep...with laughter.

I bet that the media doesn't exactly pick up on this one. Heaven forbid that anything negative would be posted about the Palestinians.

Keep on keepin' on.

* President Tom is the nickname given to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by talk radio host Glenn Beck. I guess he got sick of trying to pronounce his real name. Go figure.

Rumble In Fort Worth

You would think that by working in a brand-new, state-of-the-art veterinary hospital, there would be no real big problems. Well, working in this place has thrown that childish fantasy out the window.

Yesterday, a group of crazy cats - and by cats, I mean Mexicans, showed up to begin demolition of the dog kennel floor. For the SECOND TIME! What's that you say? Isn't your clinic brand-new?

Why yes. It is. It seems that the crazy cats that poured the concrete slab didn't realize that water flows downhill. Odd, I know.

Long story short, the water has been flowing away from the drains. This was quickly realized about 1-2 days after the first slab was poured. So they jackhammered the every living crap out of it and started anew.

Same song, different verse.

So here we are at the present time. Yesterday they started out by using a gas-powered saw to cut up the slab, so that it can later be jackhammered out. Well, if you remember from your chemistry class, the burning of petroleum produces some noxious/lethal fumes. And if you also remember, this is a veterinary clinic, which is filled with assorted living things*.

Words cannot describe to you the horrible headache I had first from the fumes, and secondly from the incessant jackhammering. Well, they workers decided yesterday that an hour's worth of jackhammering was enough for the day, and they promptly left at 3:30 PM. Not a bad gig if you can get it.

So this morning, they continued their work. This time they had to use the gas-powered saw for about 3 hours straight! I'm gonna say that I about died. It didn't take us long for all of our employees to move outside for the morning. I ended up taking a chair, my laptop, and a coffee and hung out with the cute and fuzzy puppies in the fume-free zone. Plus, it was air-conditioned, and oddly enough the outdoors is not.

As of this writing, they have been jackhammering for about 4 hours straight. Four bloody hours!!! My head is a bit fuzzy and pounding. Kind of like, oh I don't know, a JACKHAMMER!!!

And another thing...Our phones are dead. Yep. And Verizon said that they'd be fixed by 1:30 PM today. It's now 2:20, and they still ain't fixed. Shocking.

Calgon, take me away!**

Anyway, I hope that my head will stop pounding soon, along with the pounding in my ears. This would be pretty laughable, if it weren't so dang frustrating. Annie, my parents, Bubba, Bubba's wife, their daughter, and I are all going to watch the basement-dwelling Texas Rangers to bid them farewell for another season. I'm a sucker for punishment. At least there's always the Dallas Cowboys! How 'bout them Cowboys!

Keep on keepin' on.


*Luckily for the cute and fuzzy creatures, they were moved to a "fume-free" area of the hospital. Calm down there PETA.

** How is that for quoting a 20-something year old commercial!

Good Ole Fred

Well, I haven't made up my mind on which cat needs to be the Republican Nominee for President, but Fred Thompson is pretty high up there on my list. And here's why.

Been A Long Time

I've accepted the fact that my blogging has seriously been lacking. When I'm only posting about 2.3 times per month, that ain't exactly enough times to attract any new readers. And why would I want new readers? Who knows. I guess it's what any writer wants - to be read. To know that your words are being read by people. And that maybe they will have some sort of impact on their lives. But one would have to actually write something worthwhile to read, and at a fairly reasonable frequency to actually have people read it.

So I digress.

Bubba finally done and did it. He got married. The wedding went perfectly. Except for my brother's wife's kid that fell down the stairs during the opening ceremonies. No harm, no foul. Oh and we had to delay the wedding by 30 minutes because 2 of the bridesmaids were stuck in traffic. Oh well.

It was good to see my family again, many of whom I hadn't seen in about 3.5 years. The only real problem was the heat. It was about 95 degrees outside, with the humidity hovering around 80%, and no breeze. And the wedding was OUTSIDE!!! Needless to say, we were sweating just a weeee little bit.

I did manged to have the following question asked to me about 12-15 times during the reception (and I'm not exaggerating): "Well Double D, when are you going to get married?"

The rehearsal and dinner went very well. After the dinner, a group of about 8 of us headed to the local "Saloon" for some well deserved drinks. A classy establishment, this place is not. But those of you that know me, know exactly which place I'm talking about. We got there at about 9 PM and didn't leave until the bartender kicked us out at 2 AM.

What happened during that night?

Well, the bartender flashed us 3 times (and this was mixed company, mind you), did a makeshift strip tease for my brother, and capped it all off by dancing on the bar. She kinda did a Coyote Ugly/stripper dance on the bar. Her legs were long, her bosom ample, and she had a face that made you wanna turn out the lights.

Very interesting indeed. Big R, you missed quite a show. She even French-braided Annie's hair. Awww. How sweet.

Nothing like returning to your home town for some excitement. I was pretty surprised that I didn't see any of my high school classmates. Almost every time that I go in that Saloon, I see somebody from my class. Kinda sad really. Although I don't know what is sadder - the fact that my former classmates are in the bar, or the fact that I am.

I was pretty disappointed in my brother's groomsmen though. Well, at least 2 of them. There were four of us total, and 2 of the guys never really were with the group once the dinner was finished. They didn't even say good-bye to us when they left. Heck, I'm not even sure that they said bye to my brother. They pretty much dropped the ball on all of the activities.

First, Annie and I threw Bubba and his Bride a Couple's Shower. They were all invited, and none of them even bothered to RSVP that they were not going to make it, much less actually show up at the thing. All, I repeat, all of the bridesmaids attended.

Then there was the bachelor party. One of the groomsmen hungout for golf and dinner. He left after dinner because he said that he had to go home to his wife. Sad. Very sad. Heck, even Big R made it to the party. And he lives 4.5 hours away.

At least all of them made it to the rehearsal and the wedding. And all but one of them hung out with us after the rehearsal dinner.

All in all, it was a pretty pathetic showing for the groomsmen. I know that I'd be pretty pissed if mine did that to me.

Another example of his friend's "generous" nature.

When we were golfing, one of Bubba's friends wanted to bet with my brother. I wasn't really paying attention, but the bet was over who would buy dinner for them that night. I said to Big R, "Doesn't he (Bubba's friend) realize that Bubba isn't paying for his dinner anyway?"

I forget about the bet, and I really didn't think that they even placed the wager. So we arrive at our BBQ place and get in line to order. I handed my brother a $20 bill, and told him to buy mine and his dinner with that. I got back from the bathroom just in time for the cashier to ring up our total: $23.50.

I asked Bubba, "What in the heck did you order? Mine only cost about $2.50, and yours is about $8.?

He replied, "Well, Cole (the guy that he was "betting" with) won the bet and I have to pay for his dinner."

Let's just say that I was a bit hacked off, to say the least.

Oh, and to top it all off, Cole didn't even pay for his 3 beers that he got at the dinner table. To sum up, Cole stole a dinner from the groom and then didn't even bother to pay for his drinks. Actually, Big R bought them. Thanks Big R.

I guess the only thing that really mattered is that Bubba had a good time. Which he did.

And for those of you wondering how the bachelor party went, there was a grand total of 4 that attended. Bubba, myself, Big R, and the husband of one of the bridesmaids (who, by the way, Bubba had only met once before).

For those of you keeping score at home, that equals for one set of sorry-arsed groomsmen. And Bubba is a great guy. He didn't deserve any of that.

Oh well.

On a brighter note, Annie and I are heading to Aggieland this weekend for the game. Our opponent is the Louisiana School for the Pseudo-Handicapped and Only Half-Retarded but Still Able to Run and Speak (or LSPHOHRSARS). It should be fun.

Gig 'em.

Keep on keepin' on.

I'm A Crazy Brotha, Workin' For My Room And Board

I've been working...Working my arse off. I'm getting really frustrated too. In fact, I'm pretty dang close to quitting.

Why you may ask? Because I'm sick of answering the freakin' phones all the dang time. I'm sick of trying to examine an animal, and having to excuse myself because the freakin' phone keeps ringing, and I'm the only one that is able to answer it.

I'm sick of only getting 45-60 minutes for lunch, if I get a lunch. Now before you poo-poo me for only getting a measly hour for lunch, realize the following fact. We agreed upon 2 hour lunches before I started working there. In fact, I told my boss that it would be a deal breaker if I got anything less than 2 hours for lunch.

Well, we are about 4 months into this gig, and the longest lunch I have ever had is about an hour and a half.

I also don't have an employment contract, or even the details of my employment package worked out. Other than my salary, my 2 weeks vacation and him paying for a few of my dues, that is about all that we have worked out.

I'm just pretty stressed. I didn't sign up for all of this.

But maybe I'm just bitchin'. And maybe I'll be looking for a new place of employment in the very near future.

Keep on keepin' on.

Helloooooooo?

I've been a bit MIA lately. It's true that you can fall into and out of habits fairly quickly. For instance, posting at this blog. I went pretty hot and heavy for the first year or so. But then life happened, and my posting got more and more infrequent.

Now I'm in a job that's keepin' me very busy, doing a whole lot o' nothing as far as actually being a vet goes. I did manage to perform 2 surgeries today, which is OK for this month.

We had a drug company buy us lunch and talk to us about a new drug for dogs. At least we got a free lunch and 1 hour of CE from it. Not too shabby I guess.

Today, I worked on getting our clinic website fixed up. There were quite a lot of errors in it, and I think that I've got them all ironed out. I now need to take a lot of pictures of our staff and the clinic itself, and then get them posted on the site. It's kind of exciting really. I'm not even the owner of the clinic, and yet I have TREMENDOUS power over it. It's pretty crazy when I really think about it. This is a pricey clinic, with millions of dollars at stake, and I'm running it.

Wow.*

On Saturday, Bean and I threw a Couples Shower for my brother and his finance. We had a pretty good turnout, with about 20 people showing up. Not one of my brother's groomsmen showed up, save me. Not one. All of his fiance's bridesmaids managed to make it, including my sister, who is the maid-of-honor, drove up from Houston for the party. We had a good time and I think that everybody enjoyed themselves.

This Thursday through Sunday is gonna be pretty busy. On Thursday, Big R is flying up here for the big vet conference up here.

Then I will work on Friday, and we're gonna make it to a Rangers game that night.

Saturday will start off with a round of golf to kick off my brothers bachelor party. I'm not exactly sure what we are going to do that night, but rest assured, it will be fun! I'm waiting on my brother to tell me how many of us are gonna be here for the family fun.

Well, I'm gonna cook Bean and I some beef fajitas. Mmmmmmm.

Keep on keepin' on.


* Those of you that know me will realize how crazy this prospect actually is. My boss is a bit delusional to let me have the reins of this bronco. Crazy.

Kinda Funny

Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRnMyns-QVA

My Life

I've got a pretty busy next 6-7 weeks ahead of me. It's really pretty crazy how, a non-married and devastatingly handsome man, can have such a busy schedule.

I'm gonna still be working like a mule plowin' a field, of course.

This Saturday, my boss and I are going to the Rangers game, compliments of a salesman. I'm pretty excited about that. Plus we have a parking pass, in the season ticket holder's parking lot. Not too shabby. Also, I'm going to be a bachelor starting this Thursday, because Bean is going to visit her sister in Austin.

Next weekend, Bean and I are throwing my brother and his fiance a couples shower.

The following weekend is the big veterinary conference in Ft. Worth. I'm really looking forward to that because Big R will be heading up for the festivities. I'm not sure how much of the meetings we will make, but I know that we'll make a Rangers game and a night out on the town to boot. I just wish that Cameltoes and Big Judy could make it up. I'm not sure if Cocktail Clifford is gonna be able to make it either.

The next weekend is Opening Day for dove season. I'm going on a weekend all expenses paid trip. Not too shabby.

The next weekend is my brother's wedding.

The following weekend is the A&M game against some high school football team, or something comparable.

Then the rest of the weekends are pretty much open. Whew. I'm tired already.

Keep on keepin' on.

My Take On Michael Vick

I figured that I'd post my official opinion on the Michael Vick phenomenon. And after the recent controversy of this reporter, I kinda wanted to throw in my 2 cents. So, here goes.



When I first heard about the charges, I like almost everybody else in America, was appalled. I have seen plenty of dogs that were victims of the brutal dog fights, and it ain't pretty. I have spent many days working in various animal shelters and the SPCA, and there are far too many examples of abused dogs. Sad. Very Sad.



I also know that most professional athletes don't get suspended for doing horrible things. Look at Kobe Bryant. He was accused of raping a woman. He just kept on ballin' through the entire trial. Not a single game suspension. Warren Moon was convicted of beating his wife. Not one game missed due to a suspension.



Before I make my opinion, let me state that I think that dog fighting is deplorable. Anyone that participates in it is one sick individual. Animal abuse is a horrible thing, and there have been studies to show that abusing animals means that you are much more likely to abuse a human.



I think that Michael Vick should not miss one practice, or one game, until he is convicted of this crime.



I realize that this position is ain't exactly P.C., but in order to maintain any resemblance of consistency the current policy of not suspending professional athletes while on trial for raping or beating the crap out of women, then how can the NFL suspend a player for abusing dogs?



It makes absolutely no logical sense.



Now, if players were suspended while being on trial for committing heinous acts of rape or domestic violence, then my stance would be to suspend him. And I'm definitely not saying that rape and making dogs fight are even close to the same thing. But both are very horrible.



I agree with the reporter's statement. Shocking, I know. But really think about it. If he was being accused of rape, then sure there would be a media investigation, just like there was for Kobe. And there would even be a handful of protesters out there.



What about the case with Jessica Lunsford? She experienced nothing short of one of one of the most horrible events that any human can experience. Can you imagine being raped and then to top it all off, you get buried alive?



Now what does Jessica Lundsford have to do with Michael Vick? Well, there wasn't a huge public outcry over it. Sure the media covered it, and nobody was defending the sick mother trucker that did it. But how many out there thought about that girl any longer than, "Oh, how horrible. That is one sick mother that did that. Hmm. I wonder what's for dinner tonight? Should I have the beef or the chicken. Did you hear about Britney Spears? Etc., etc., etc."



On the other hand, how many people out there are going absolutely nuts over the Michael Vick story? People are burning his jerseys, buying T-shirts that denounce him and toting signs that say "Neuter Vick".

I think that if he is convicted, and I think that he will be, then throw the book at him. I hope that he won't play another game in the NFL again.

But it's just really sad that there is far more outcry over abuse of dogs, than over abuse of people. Kinda sad in my opinion.

Really sad.

Keep on keepin' on.

Addendum To My Previous Posts

Bean is a bit frustrated with my previous posts about the "World's Greatest Boy Band", Rascal Flatts. She is mainly frustrated with the way that I write about our expeditions. I really didn't mean to make it sound like I was being tortured. Sorry Bean.

Concerning the concert itself, it was an O.K. show. It was a lot better than last year's, so they are improving. I am a bit disappointed that they didn't break out with any new dances. Bummer.

Keep on keepin' on.

Life Goes On

I survived the Rascal Flatts concert. I was correct on my prediction about the average age of the attendees. There were a LOT of teenage girls there. Here's something kinda funny. Bean got a survey about the concert, and one of the questions was about how much $ was spent in drinks at the concert. We spent about $17, on 2 beers and a coke. I woulda bought another 1-2 beers, but the cut everyone off about 30 minutes into the concert.

I would love to know the difference in "beverage sales" between this concert and lets say a Metallica concert in the same venue. I bet that the difference would be at least 3 times higher. There ain't exactly a lot of 13 year olds in the building able to buy beer, and just how many cokes can one person drink in a night anyway?

Just my mule brain, pondering random things.


On the work front, business is picking up. We will have over double the projected gross for both the month of June and July. Not too shabby, methinks, although we are gonna be about 10% short of my goal for this month. But hey, I ain't complaining.

It is gonna be difficult to predict the next 1-3 months though. The kids will start going back to school towards the end of the month, so that means that a lot of $$$ will be spent on new school supplies and not on taking care of Fluffy and Fido.


I'm getting pretty dang excited about football season starting, especially since I'll get a shot to make it to 1-2 Aggie games this year. Good times. Should be muy bueno. We'll see how this year is gonna roll out. It's sure be sweet to watch the Aggies take the Big 12, but I'm not exactly sure that it is a realistic expectation. Who knows?

That's it for now. I don't have a ton to write about today.

Keep on keepin' on.

Pray For Me

Bean and I are off to see the band Rascal Flatts. Pray for me. I will be one of about 6 men in the entire place. No lie. The rest of the population will be 1: female and 2: with an average age of about 14.23.

Keep on keepin' on.

Ain't No Cure For The Summertime Blues

All is quiet on the western front. Yesterday and today have been pretty slow, which has been kinda nice change of pace. Now, if only we had a receptionist, I'd be really happy.

Not a heckuva lot to report about. I'm pretty dang tired though, so that may have something to do with my lack of writing. Plus methinks I may be getting a wee sick. No bueno.

I had an interesting thing happen to me yesterday. One of my kennel workers asked to see me in the boarding area. We get there and she manages to get out about 1 syllable before crying. And I don't mean just a few tears, I mean crying. She finally calms down and and starts talking coherently.

No let me back this up by giving you a little bit of background 411 on her. She is a 19 year old girl back at home from college. She decided that she wants to be a vet, so she thought that working at one would be fun. She started in mid-May, with the job of kennel girl. Her hours are from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She has already missed about 6 days of work this summer for assorted reasons. And our clinic is just starting up, so there haven't been too many dogs being boarded either. Basically, her job is a cinch.

Now back to my tale. She is upset because she has to...gasp...clean kennels. She has been doing this the entire time that she has been employed here, but for some unknown reason, it's not "fun" anymore. I told her that she needed to talk to our boss about her complaints, since I addressed as much as I possibly could.

She said that she had a cold, and wanted to leave an hour early yesterday, so I let her. I think that she was sick, but it also probably has a lot to do with her not wanting to work.

Then this morning, she calls in sick. Thankfully, we had another kennel girl that came in to cover for her.

I really don't understand why she was sooooo upset. It's not that the job changed any. It's still the same job.

As far as employees, we have 3 kennel workers. Assuming that Crying Girl is quitting as of today, that leaves us with 2. And 1 of them has to quit starting August 1st, leaving us with 1. He will have to quit starting about the 10th or so. In other words, we gonna be needin' some help soon.

Keep on keepin' on.

Another Day, Another Dolla

One thing that has drastically changed since I started this full-time gig, is my $$$ situation, and not in a positive way. Now it's pretty much like there is too much month and the end of the paycheck. Bummer. I'm pretty much outta cash until the next pay period. No bueno.

I'm pretty ready for the Land Flowing With Positive Cash Flow, so that I'll actually be able to live in a place that shouldn't be condemned. Well, my place ain't exactly that bad, but it makes for a better story, doesn't it?

I had a very, very interesting turn of events lately. The lady from this post called on Friday, demanding that I prescribe her dog a wide variety of Class II narcotics (that's stuff like morphine and other good juice like that). She also wanted the injectable kind, a BIG no-no. She called at 4:45 P.M., and as luck would have it, I avoided the phone call because I was about to go into surgery. I proceeded to tell my Kennel Manager, who had been taking the phone calls, that I would not prescribe those kinds of medications to her dog who hadn't eaten in the last 3 days, is pooping and peeing all over himself, hasn't been able to walk more than 2 steps for multiple months because of SEVERE hip dysplasia, howls all day and night long, doesn't sleep very much because of the howling, is blind, and is about 25% underweight.

So about 5-8 phone calls later made to us by the owner, I answered the phone at about 5:58 P.M. (we close at 6), and it was her on the other line. And she was not happy that I wouldn't give her the drugs that she wanted.

I asked her about the dog's quality of life. She really didn't like me asking that, because she responded by saying, "I won't have you push me into euthanizing him!" I then told her that I was merely asking her about what she thought about her beloveds quality of life (which is clearly non-existent) and she told me that she still thought that the dog still had it. And Muslims aren't blowing things up around the world either. I get it. I get it.

She is by all "common sense" definitions committing cruelty to her dog, although not legally, which gave me no options to confiscate the dog.

This is pretty much a woman that is in complete denial about the real situation that her dog is in, which is very close to dead. She adamantly refuses to humanely handle this situation, because of the following crazy math:

1) She thinks that 1 Dog Life = 1 Human Life, or 1DL = 1HL.

2) She accordingly thinks that Euthanasia of Dog = Murder of Human, or EoD = MoH.

3) So, my mathematically challenged friends, our 2 formulas combined gives us this: (DL + HL)(EoD + MoH) = 1 LCTARFOMOS or 1 Lady Crazier Than A Room Full Of Monkeys On Speed.

All in all, it's a very sad situation. Sad for the dog who is suffering a long and painful death. Sad for the owner who has a very unhealthy attachment to her dog. She has no kids, and has never had any kids, and she is putting that maternal instinct erroneously into her dog. It's one thing to think of your dog as your "kid", but it's another thing altogether to really, really believe that the dog is your kid.

She told me that she just wanted "a few more days with him." She wanted him painfree and able to sleep. I informed her that the only way that was possible was to be completely asleep from drugs (which is impossible for her to do).

I eventually told her that she would be better served by a veterinary specialist, because I can't give her the medicines or treatment that the dog needs. FYI, the dog needs an entirely new body.

So, as of 5:53 PM, we haven't heard from here since the Saturday call. Thank God.

Keep on keepin' on.

My Life

I'm so sorry to my 2.278 readers out there for not posting since Juneteenth.



Highlights of my life since the last post:



1. Work has been pretty dang busy. We still don't have a receptionist, cuz me boss doesn't want to pay for one as of now. I'm getting pretty burned out though with doing a lot of the receptionist duties.

I also almost got hanged by another vet from another city. Long story, and the details are sketchy, but the point is that I did everything right, but another vet (who hasn't seen the dog since Sept '06) told the owner that I did something wrong. That's pretty much illegal and making a diagnosis over the phone. Not cool. So the owner was upset (and I would be too if I was in her shoes) and thought that I had messed up. I didn't, and because the owner actually screwed up, it cost them about $1800 at the emergency clinic. Fun, fun, fun.

2. I'm pretty much finished with my apartment. It's still pretty ghetto, but it's home. The really weird thing is that I actually like this apartment the best of all. Well, at least the way that all my stuff is organized, and the way that my pictures are hung on the wall. I've pretty much decorated my pad with photos that I've taken, which is kinda nice. I just realized the other day that I haven't signed any of them. You never know, I could be famous someday.

3. Bean is an aunt again. Her oldest sister just had a baby boy. So Bean is in Austin now, oogling over him. Good for her.

4. My brother's wedding is rapidly approaching. It's 2 months away now. And I still have to plan the bachelor party. This is just too much stress!

5. I think that Big & Rich should be taken to a dark alley and...well, you know. The song "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" has got to be one of the worst songs of all time. Period. They should be arrested and hung. No trial. No jury. Just an express lane to the gallows.

6. I've been uber-busy today. I'm working relief again at a clinic I've worked at before. I've been busier than a 1-armed paper hanger. Maybe working today wasn't such a good idea.

Peace out. Keep on keepin' on.

My Struggle

You may remember my discussion a post or 2 ago about the ghetto apartment that I just moved into. Well, it is even more ghetto than I thought.

Annie, Bubba, and I spent Saturday afternoon moving my earthly possessions into my new Bachelor Pad o' Love. Now remember, my apartment is ghetto. Well, it didn't take long for the "natives" to start getting nosey and scoping out my stuff on the moving van. Luckily, I don't have much stuff that is noticeably very nice, with a few exceptions.

I have a brand-spankin' new gas grill that my parents got me for Christmas this past year. I've never used it cuz I've been mostly homeless since then. It was the last thing that was loaded onto the moving van, so naturally, it was the first thing off the van. We set it out of the way and on the grass at the back of the van. I didn't think much of it until the local residents started making comments like, "That's a nice grill." Or, "Where did you get that grill?"

That's when my monkey brain started thinkin', "Hmmm. Maybe we need to get the grill off of the grass, and back onto the van. And maybe we really need to kick this unloading thing into high gear, before the entire apartment complex realizes what I have in my apartment."

That made me a little nervous.

Or maybe it was because of the meth-head/crack whore/alcoholic 40-something chick that kept hangin' around the van. Yeah, that might have made me a little nervous.

At one point, I asked my brother, "Do you think that she's a meth-head, or an alcoholic?"

To which my brother replied, "A meth-head. I'm about 75% sure of it."

Sweet. Nothing like it.

On Sunday, Annie and I went back to the apartment to work on getting things unpacked. She started on the kitchen and loaded up dishes in the dishwasher. About 5 minutes after she started the dishwasher, I heard a funny sound. Kind of like the sound that water makes when it's leaking into places it shouldn't. We quickly found the source of the leak.

The garbage disposal.

Since the water was only dripping, we placed a pan under the leak and let the dishwasher continue it's mind-numbing job.

Then the heavens unleashed there fury. Water started flooding out from the leak. Then we had a real problem.

After a call to the apartment complex, they fixed:
1) The dishwasher,
2) The towel rack in the bathroom, which had fallen down,
3) The electrical outlet in the bathroom which some genius put in upside down.
4) The leak in the hot water heater, which was dripping water onto the floor and rotting it.

Last night, Annie and I returned to continue our quest to make the apartment habitable. Annie had brought over an oven dinner. It didn't take us long to figure out that the oven didn't exactly work properly. It took about 1.5 hours to cook a "30 minute meal." It wasn't until we baked the biscuits that we realized the problem: the bottom heating element didn't work.

So I had to make another call to them today, and they fixed that too. With much apologizing.

I gotta give them credit, they are at least being nice and prompt about fixing these things.

On the work front, this week has been slllllllooooooooowwwww. I'm not exactly sure as to why. On Monday, we only did about 45% that we did the previous Monday. Today will be much like last week. The only difference is that today I have only seen 1 patient, and the remaining money that came in was from a long-term boarder. So even though the daily total from last Tues. and today are identical, we are much slower than last week.

What's really weird is that the phones aren't even ringing.

Crazy.

Keep on keepin' on.

Moving Day...Again

I'm moving today. And it's supposed to rain all day. Nice. It's only fitting cuz when Cameltoes and I moved my stuff into the storage shed in February, it was snowing.

As I have stated in a previous entry, the place I will call home ain't exactly a nice place. But, it's alls I could find that was on the first floor. With two, 50 lb, dogs at my house, I ain't making that many trips up and down the stairs to walk them. Call me lazy, I don't care.

I'm working again today, as I have every Saturday since we've opened, and we are once again slower than molasses in January. Shocking, I know. The phones aren't even really ringing, which is odd, because on Mon-Fri, the phones ring of the bloody hook. So far, with 37 minutes left before we close, we have made a grand total of $171 for the day. Amazing. And we are paying one tech about $65 for today, and the kennel boy about $45. And that's not including my salary for the day. Yeah, we be in da red just a wee bit.

However, we've been averaging around a grand/day for this week (not including today), so we're getting closer to the elusive "break-even" point. But until we start doing better on Saturdays, or even better, close on Saturdays, they are going to keep hurting our bottom line.

I just figured out that, assuming that nobody else walks in in the next 30 minutes, we will average around $900/day for the week.

On an unrelated note, my parents were supposed to fly out of here at 6:30 this morning. Thanks to the remarkable knack for the airlines to be on time, they didn't take off until about 8:45. I feel bad for them, cuz a lot of that time was spent stuck on the plane.

T-minus 23 minutes and counting. I'm not looking forward to moving. Much less having to shuck out some more $$$ to rent the U-haul and bribe, I mean pay, my brother to help me move. Oh well. It's all part of it.

Keep on keepin' on.

About To Move

Today, I called up my future housing place, to see if all is in order. It is, except for the following:

1) I have to call TXU to get service started. I also need to have proof that I set up my account, and that it is active on moving day

2) I have to have proof of renter's insurance, because I have dogs. I've never heard of a rental place requiring that, but it's news to me. But I guess it's good to have the coverage anyway, since the apartment complex is OLD and may be prone to fires, floods, earthquakes, locusts, plague, you know, the usual. So that's another $200 that I have to spend. No lie, the appliances are straight from the 80's, complete with parachute pants, a Thriller album, and sweet mullet.

The "amenities" include: 4 walls, a ceiling, air conditioning, heat, and my very own flushable toilet! That's about it. No pool with complementary hotties in bikini's. Bummer.

3) I need to pay $200 for this month's rent, another $400 for my 2 dogs (and that's a fee, not a deposit), and this in addition to the $200 application fee that I paid 2 weeks ago and the $200 mandatory renters insurance. So my first month's rent is really something along the lines of $800. What a steal, considering that my "normal" rent is $680/month (including $20/month for "pet rent" in addition to my $400 dollar pet fee.)

4) Proof from my "vet" of my dogs' vaccination records. Well, we just got proof, cuz their vet is me. How lucky.

5) I also have to promise to turn over my first born child. Seriously.

Update:
I'm at work right now, and my boss is talking to a lady that is literally crazier than a clown on 4 day acid trip. Seriously, she is outta her mind. She has a dog that is terminal. And not just from one thing, but from many. If you saw this dog on that Houston Animal Control show, where they show the animal "cops" rescuing mistreated and neglected dogs, you would be very pissed off at the owner for the condition of this dog. It's deplorable.

So, she is in complete denial over the dog's condition, and refuses to "let go" of her dog. I understand the close bond, but she is keeping this dog alive, and has been for at least 1-3 years, solely for her own selfish reasons. I could probably get her ass thrown in jail. This dog is in HORRIBLE shape. She has even taken her pet to a "Pet Communicator" to see what the dog really is saying and what he wants. He told the "Pet Communicator" that he still wants to live, and he's trying the best that he can.

What a scam.

And the lady doesn't "believe" in euthanasia, or killing any animal. She's a vegetarian, and I can only imagine that she's a card-carrying member of PETA. Nice.

Meanwhile the dog is suffering tremendously.

Great.

Keep on keepin' on.

Global Warming Heating Up Pussy Love

Yep. It's true. Global warming is causing more and more pussycats to "get it on." It's true.


Animal Group Blames Cat Influx on … Global Warming
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
June 11, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - A coalition of animal shelters says there has been a "dramatic" increase in the number of cats brought in - and it blames the trend on global warming.

"Today more than ever, animal shelters across the United States are reporting skyrocketing influxes of cats and kittens being brought into their agencies," Pets Across America said in a statement.

According to the group's president, Kathy Warnick, "many believe global warming is extending cat breeding seasons and causing the cat population to swell."

"Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders," said Warnick, who also serves as president of the Humane Society of Missouri. "However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding.

"Basically, there is no longer a reproduction lull with cat breeding cycles and unfortunately, it seems more people are bringing boxes of kittens into our agencies during winter now."

Kieran Suckling, policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity, backed up the idea, in principle.

"The assumption that a warming climate will alter the reproductive rates and success of some species is solid and has been demonstrated in a number of species," he told Cybercast News Service.

"Cats, I suppose, will be somewhat protected from these other impacts due to humans - at least in the near future - providing them with relatively stable shelter, food, etc," he added.

Pets Across America reports that animal shelters across the U.S. are reporting "spikes" in the number of cats and kittens they are taking in.

"The organization associates their steady increase of cat intake - a startling seven percent last year alone - to likely be an example of how warmer climates really do affect the number of cats breeding more frequently," its statement said.

Pets Across America says some shelters have experienced an increase of more than 30 percent from 2005 to 2006.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the mean temperature in the United States rose less than one degree Fahrenheit (0.66) from 2005 to 2006.

Kelli Ferris, an assistant professor at the North Carolina State University School of Veterinary Medicine, sounded dubious about the claims.

"The increase in the numbers of homeless friendly and feral cats in many parts of the country involves so many factors that I think it would be extremely difficult to quantitatively evaluate the contribution of subtle changes in the environment," she told Cybercast News Service.

Ferris noted that increases in human population and the availability of food could be a factor.

She cited "factors of irresponsible pet ownership that are variable between regions of the country and across individual states." Also increased percentages of households that own cats have been documented over the past 30 years - a trend she said means that "there are more opportunities for cats to be released in to the environment."

"Adding to the complexity of determining the possible effects of global warming is that we really don't know the actual population numbers of free-roaming cats over the past five years, let alone the past 50 years, that would allow us to measure true changes in cat numbers," Ferris added.

Myron Ebell, director for energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, called Pets Across America's concerns "silly."

"It seems like everyone wants to link their issue or problem or cause to global warming," he told Cybercast News Service. "One basic problem with most of these ridiculous claims is that there is no correlation between local temperatures and the alleged effect."

He noted that in the United States, "lots of places were warmer, but lots of places were colder than the previous year."


Wow...that's all there is to it. Keep on keepin' on.

All By My Lonesome

Bean left on Thursday to visit an old childhood friend. Her and her mom are visiting the friends in Phoenix until late tomorrow night. Then Bean will be gone to New York from Monday to Thursday evening. So, I will be all by myself for about 8 days. Sniff, sniff*.

Thursday night one of my vet friends, his wife and I went to the pitiful Texas Rangers game. Our seats were awesome though: 24th row right behind home plate. I mean right behind home plate. They weren't off to one side or the other. It was the best seats that I've ever had. And they were FREE! We even got free season ticket parking. Not a bad time...except that we left after only 7 innings because the Rangers were getting creamed 11-2. Not much point in staying any longer, especially since all 3 of us had to work the next morning.

I finished work today by seeing a grand total of 3 patients today, of which only 1 was a legitimate one. The other 2 were boarding dogs that, had we been closed today, would have come in yesterday, and I would have examined them on Friday.

The 1 patient that I legitimately saw today took me about 10 minutes to see, and gained us about $240. So, we really only made about that much today. Considering that my salary alone cost us more than that, methinks that being open on Saturdays is not such a good idea. I hate being open on Saturdays, although it's not bad since it's so dang slooooow overall.

Having a veterinary clinic open on Saturdays is pretty pointless nowadays. Unless you are in a rural area, or doing a mixed animal practice, there really is not a point to being open then. It's pretty hard to make it work financially, although many vets think that it does. And that, in my opinion, is wrong thinking.

Enough about the rant. Sorry.

I'm gonna crash now.**

Keep on keepin on.

* Bring out the stripper's pole, the body oils, and the mud wrestling pit, cuz Daddy's gonna have a PARTY!!

** Another big benefit of being open on Saturdays is that by the time that I'm finished with work, which is around 12:30 or so, I'm so freakin' tired from the week that I'm toast until about 5 or 6 o'clock. It thereby takes out a full day, and not just a 1/2 day like most people think. It's a sweet two-for-one deal. And I don't much like it very much.

Not So SLOOOOOOOOOW

Well, my wish has been granted. It's been slower than molasses in January...up until late last week. Since last Thursday, things have quickly picked up. Today was our busiest day ever. It was a dang good thing that our new tech started working this afternoon, or else we would not have been able to cover it.

I'm still BEGGING for a receptionist. I told my boss after Saturday's busy arse day that we are really gonna need one. And I purposely let him answer almost all of the phone calls today to let him realize how badly we are gonna need one. Methinks that he's getting the picture.

Overall, I've been working my butt off. Since I'm a receptionist, technician, computer I.T. guy, office manager, and oh by the way, a veterinarian, I get a tad busy during the day. I'm averaging about an hour for lunch every day, and putting in about 9-10 hours in each day. I'm getting a bit tired.

I've gotta go.

Keep on keepin' on.

SLLLLLOOOOOOWW

That's how I would describe my work at the new clinic. Slow. Especially now that I've gotten about 95% of the computer stuff finished, I don't have a lot to do anymore. Although, I'm getting to be a pretty dang good receptionist. I can answer phones like a motha-trucka now. Oh yeah, I'm da man.

I did manage to get bitten by a dog today. Luckily, it was "just a flesh wound." It didn't really bleed much, and methinks it's gonna be O.K. It's hard working with kids that don't know what they are doing. I was trying to draw blood on a dog, and since the girl that was holding the dog is brand-spankin' new, I got tattooed with some pearly whites on me hand. What hacks me off is that it was my fault for not putting a muzzle on the pooch in the first place.

This morning was a bit crazy but other than that, I've been twiddling my thumbs and answering the phones. And surfing the net. And telling people that they have dialed the wrong number.

Earlier I had the following phone conversation:

Me: Hello, this is the Blah Blah Vet. Clinic.

Lady: Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me the background of your veterinarians that work there.

Me (not really knowing what in the heck she was "really" asking me"): Well, one of us went to Auburn, and the other went to Texas A&M.

Lady: Oh. Um...I've been going to ABC Vet Clinic down the road, and their prices are way too high. What do you think about that.

Me (Uber-confused now): Well, I don't know what that clinc's prices are, so I really can't comment on that.

Lady: Oh...OK...Thanks. Click

I'm still really confused on what the lady wanted from me. I don't really know what she wanted to hear, or what information she wanted to get from me. Maybe she was a "mole" from another clinic, trying to get the scoop about us.

Who knows.

Time is really draggin' on today. I'm stuck trying to train all of the new employees, which isn't a lot of fun. Basically all of our staff is 100% Grade A Rookie. Fresh off the farm. It's kinda tough since I'm starting to see some pretty crazy things, that need a bit more help from the staff.

Plus, I have to keep answering the dang phone every time it rings.

Yep, I'm a regular Renaissance Man.

Bean is in New York this week. Well at least until Thursday. She even got to fly 1st class today. She's gonna start getting snobbish pretty soon. Here's why.

This weekend, Bean, her sister, and I went to the store to help Bean pick out a pair of eyeglasses. Long story short, she ended up buying a pair of Burberry's. Then the saleswoman suggested that she try on a pair of Chanel sunglasses. They were priced at $375, but since she had already bought a pair of eyeglasses that day, she qualified for a serious discount. So she bought them. The total cost for the 2 glasses was equal to what I paid for 1 pair of eyeglasses the other day. And mine are Columbia brand. It's a said day for the cat without a kickass insurance plan like Bean does.

Keep on keepin' on.

It's A Crazy World

Well, where do I start. Let's start with last night. Bean and I went to the Rangers/Twins game last night. So I bust my arse to get home, change clothes, and eat, so we can hopefully make it to the game on time. We hit the road and it's looking like we just might make it for the 1st pitch. And then Murphy's Law struck. I locked my keys in my truck.

I thought about my options. I could call the locksmith now, and probably miss most, if not all of the game. Or I could watch the game and call the locksmith after the game, and wait forever for them to get there.

I chose Door #1. The dude got there pretty quickly, and over an hour later and my wallet $50 lighter, we went to the game. I bought the cheap seats at $6 each, since the stadium was about 1/3 full. We managed to sit in the upper deck, right behind home plate (which are about $17 seats, I think). We missed 4.5 innings of the game, and we got to see Johan Santana work his magic on the Rangers by only allowing 1 ER, and striking out 13. Needless to say, he made the Rangers look retarded.



On the working man front, things are going pretty well. They are a heckuva lot better than a couple of weeks ago. I've got a large chunk of the computer software down, and on Friday, I've got an over-the-phone training session with the software people. It should be just swell.

Business remains remarkably slow. We are seeing about an average of 1.35 patients/day. Or something like that, since I haven't actually calculated out the number. I mainly just sit here in front of the computer, answer the phones, and try to get as much of the software stuff done as I can.


This morning, I had a bit of a rush when 2 people came in about 15 minutes apart! I was sweating, let me tell ya. But, I can't complain, I guess. At least I'm not the actual owner of this here joint, so I ain't sweatin' it. I'm also trying to get my contract finalized, after working here for about 3.5 weeks.

I also just found out that I have to work from 1-6 on Memorial Day. Major bummer. No es bueno.

I'm still a homeless man, for those of you that were wondering. I'm gonna look at an apartment that sits right smack dab in the middle of Whitetrashville. Hey, it's cheap, so don't knock a brotha. I hope that it works out because it will save me about $150-$200/month in rent. Not bad. Plus it's only about 20 minutes to work, and about 15-20 minutes from my beloved Bean.

Keep on keepin' on.

Gotta Keep On Truckin'

Tomorrow I will get a day off! Yea me!

I've been extremely busy at the vet clinic since we opened on May 1st. The days are absolutely flying by. I stroll in there at 8:00, and before I know it, it's 5:45. It's probably because I've been a mad crazy computer Mr. Fix-it for most of the time.

Since we've opened, I've been trying, desperately, to:

1) Get our vet program up and running

2) Get our printers to actually print what they are supposed to, where they are supposed to print

3) Get our printer/fax/copier/scanner to actually work. I spent the ENTIRE day trying to get that sucker to scan a document. I finally had to install the software onto my own personal laptop to finally get it to work. It's a HP printer/fax/scanner/copier and their customer service SUCKS!!! So does the instruction manual. So I'm no better off, really, than I was when I started the sick and twisted project this morning. I guess I'll be on the telephone for another hour or 2 on Friday to try and get it to work. I email HP's technical support and they gave me a standard B.S. answer, with stuff that I'd already tried. Thanks a lot buddy.

3) Get my boss and the kennel manager to learn the computer system. The really, really scary part about all of this is that I'm the only one that knows how to check somebody out, and apply a payment. Methinks I'm gonna get a phone call or two tomorrow when they get into trouble.

4) Get ready for my next big project of getting the Dog and Cat Boarding Scheduler to work. I think that it's gonna take me a day or 500 to get it up and running. My only hope is that the new technician will get it figured out tomorrow *fingers crossed*. She's coming in for about 3 hours to work on the vet program.

5) Keep our X-Ray machine working. Yesterday, we got the new scanner to our $50,000+ digital radiology unit. I got it up and running...and it worked. Today, I even got to re-X-ray the dog that came in last week when we found out the machine didn't work. It really made us look pretty bad, so we did the X-rays for free. Not my idea, but the boss man wanted to keep a good future client. The guy will be a pretty good client, and he's pretty cool, so I hope it will be worth the $140 or so that we lost on the deal (especially since we made about $227 total today). It's also scary that I'm the only one that knows how to operate the digital X-ray computer program. And there is a limping dog coming in tomorrow that needs X-rays. There is another phone call or 2.

On a completely different note, I'm watching the Rangers play the Devil Rays. The game is in Tampa Bay and there are a grand total of...wait for it...just over 8,500 people in the stands. How in the heck do you keep a MLB team up and running with attendances like that? It's like the Florida Marlins and there abysmal attendance. Why do you keep those teams where they are? Why not move them to other cities that would actually appreciate a MLB team? How about San Antonio, TX? I know that they could put up better attendance numbers than 8,500/game, that's for sure.

According to ESPN.com, The Tampa Bay Devil Rays' average home attendance last year was 16,901/game. And they had the 2nd lowest average attendance for 2006. Who did they beat???

The Florida Marlins. Their average home attendance last year was 14,384/game. That's just plain terrible. Even the freakin' Kansas City Royals managed to drag 17,158 fans/suckers-for-punishment per game*. Just plain sad.

Let's move the Florida teams. Nobody is watching them anyway. Get them in a better market. They won't even miss them.

While I'm on a baseball rant, I'm really, really sick and tired of watching the Rangers be mediocre. It's just plain disgusting. Right now they are losing to the Devil Rays 8-11, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th. Gagne is pitching, and he has been pitching very well this year. If only the rest of the team could do the same.

I've been in Texas for almost 17 years now, and EVERY year it's the same thing: the Texas Rangers need pitching. Badly. It's the same song, different verse. I'm getting really, really sick and tired of this. It's really sad when you score 8 runs in a game, and you still manage to lose by 3 runs (assuming that the game ends with the same score as it is currently).

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just getting sick of crappy baseball. It really takes the fun outta watching baseball games. And I LOVE baseball.

At least the Astros have managed to eek into .500 baseball, not counting this evening's game.

Keep on keepin' on.

* These stats are from here. FYI.

The Train Keeps A Rollin'

I've got 10 days under my belt at the new clinic and alls I can say is that it's been pretty interesting...and exhausting. I finished my 10th day of work out of 11 days, and tomorrow will make it 11 out of 12 days. All of those days have involved a lunch break of an average of 30 minutes. Yesterday I worked from 8-4 straight, then took a 15 minute "snack-break" and stayed until 6:45. Twas a long day.

Oh, and the brand new $50,000 X-ray system...it's broken. The manufacturer is going to send us a brand new piece of equipment. Apparently when they told me to "crack open up the bottom of the machine, look for a coaxial cable that might be loose, and take a pair of needle-nosed pliers and crimp the wire" didn't exactly cut it. I'm not kidding. They had me "work" on this $50,000 piece of machinery. I didn't exactly feel very good about doing that.

On a brighter note, our surgical "laser*" is working well. Yesterday we had a vet come in to show us how to use the sucker. I did a dog neuter, a dog spay, a cat declaw, and a cat neuter with the new "laser." It works pretty dang well, if I do say so my dang-self. Methinks that I'm gonna like it a lot. And I only shot myself once. Yep, I nailed my finger with the "laser." Let me just say this: "It hurts." It doesn't feel so good when you do it. I accidentally tapped the foot pedal that turns on the "laser" and gave myself quite a shock. At least the "laser" is broken in now.

I finally got some prices entered into the computer system today. It's about time. We've had a lot of people calling and asking us about how much our costs are. Hurray for me.

It's also just now dawning on me that I'm gonna be the cat to run this new clinic. Here's the breakdown of my work week. I will work Mon-Wed. and Thurs.-Sat. My boss is gonna work Monday, and Thurs.-Friday. So, for those of you keeping score at home, that leaves me working at the clinic by myself 3/6 days a week. And my boss will only be working there 3 days a week. So I'm gonna be running this ...by myself. Wow.

On a different note, I'm by myself this weekend. Annie is in Austin this weekend for Mother's Day. What's a brotha to do? I guess it's lots of strippers and tequilla shots for me! Whoo-Hoo!**

I'm gonna pass out now. I've got another sweet Saturday of work ahead of me. Jealous?

Keep on keepin' on.

* Imagine Dr. Evil doing his air quotes when you say "laser". It makes it a lot more fun.

* Just kidding Annie. No strippers will be at your house this weekend. Or tequilla shots for that matter.

What Up Dog?

Well, dis dog been busy. The clinic officially opened on May 1st and it has been crazy here!

I got here on Opening Day and it has been mass hysteria ever since. Basically here's a brief rundown of the events of the last 2.5 days.

1. Every piece of veterinary equipment has at least something wrong with it. For instance, the dental cleaning machine has a jacked up connector for the water connection. We had the sales rep come here this morning to try to fix it. After 3 different trips to Lowe's, and about 3 hours of time slipping by, we are back in the exact same situation that we were when we started. So that pretty much ate up the entire morning. We were supposed to perform 3 dental cleanings this morning. Not quite.

2. I spent an hour on the phone, after my boss spent an hour on the phone, with the technical service dude. We finally got the printers working, because nothing was printing to the right printer. It's kinda funny when you print something and you think it's gonna come out of the printer right beside you, only to have the computer networking gods slap you in the face by sending it to a printer....in China. Just kidding, but you get the point.

3. I'm still trying to plod my way around the computer software that we have for the clinic. It's a new brand of software (for vet clinics) and so it's completely foreign to me. I'm pretty dang computer savy, but it's taking me a long while just to get the basics down.

4. Just trying to remember to give the clients their rabies tag is all I can do.

Keep on keepin' on.

I Just Quit My Day Job(s)

Well, it's official. Today is my last day of relief work. It's kinda sad really. Yesterday, I worked my last day at one of my regular clinics, and today is the last one at another regular clinic. In fact, today is my 1 year anniversary at this clinic. It's fitting that it's my last day.

Tuesday will be the new clinic's official Opening Day. After months and months and months of delays, it will finally open. It's really pretty bitter-sweet. I'm losing things and gaining things in this-here trade off. I hope it works out well.

It's really pretty crazy how many freakin' changes I've made in my life over the last few years.

Keep on keepin' on.

Hillary Be Scary

Here is an interesting article on Hillary. It makes a lot of sense. I got this from here.

"Polls suggest that the leading attribute attracting voters to Hillary’s presidential candidacy is her “experience,” a virtue which contrasts, presumably, with the lack of it in Senator Barack Obama, her chief rival. But a close examination of her record as first lady and as New York Senator suggests that her experience is largely in the avoidance of death by scandal. Were it to be captured in a television series, it would certainly not rise to the level of “Commander In Chief” and probably not even to that of “West Wing.” It would find its televised metaphor in the reality series "Survivor."

Consider what her experience has been. She burst forth on the national stage with two tasks in her husband’s administration: The selection of the nation’s first female Attorney General and the design and adoption of a comprehensive program of health care reform. Her efforts to designate an Attorney General hamstrung the new Administration for months as two nominees, in succession, had to withdraw their names from consideration. Finally, at the eleventh hour, she urged her husband to appoint Florida’s Janet Reno, a selection Bill Clinton would come to describe as “my worst mistake.” In the bargain, she suggested the appointment of Lani Guanier as head of the civil rights division, a job she was shortly forced to relinquish when her radical views became known, another embarrassment for the new Administration. Her other selections for the Justice Department, the White
House staff and the Treasury were her three law partners: Web Hubbell, Vince
Foster, and William Kennedy, appointments which culminated in one imprisonment, one suicide, and one forced resignation.

Her other assignment, health care reform, collapsed in such a debacle that it cost her party control of both houses of Congress, a fate from which it took twelve years to recover.

Beyond these initial tasks, her main focus in the Administration was scandal defense. From Jennifer Flowers to Whitewater to the FBI file affair to the travel office firings to her Commodities Market winnings to the missing Rose Law Firm billing records to the Paula Jones scandal, she orchestrated the Administration’s defense against scandal allegations. In the process, she almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice.

And her advice in handling these matters was uniformly bad. It was Hillary who counseled Bill not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit even when the plaintiffs called for neither an apology nor payment and she who stonewalled the release of Whitewater documents even when it led to the appointment of a special prosecutor. When the prosecutor whose appointment she had caused heard about the depositions in the Paula Jones case she had refused to settle, the Monica Lewinsky scandal eventuated.

During the period of 1995-1997, the period of the Clinton Administration’s greatest achievements, she was nowhere to be seen, focusing instead on writing It Takes A Village, and on dodging criminal inquiry. She did not participate in the formulation of a balanced budget, nor in welfare reform legislation, nor in the reduction of crime that stemmed from the 1994 anti-crime bill.

Her experience continued when her race for the Senate and its aftermath became, in turn, mired in scandal. The pardon of the FALN terrorists to get Latino support in New York, that of the New Square Hassidim to get Hillary Jewish support, and the clemency shown toward Hillary’s brothers’ clients to get them financial support caused her ratings to plunge to their lowest level in March of 2001 as she took her Senate seat. The theft of White House gifts, almost $200,000 of which had to be returned, did nothing to endear her to the electorate.

Since then, Hillary has done nothing of note in the Senate except to vote for the Iraq War, a position she has since disavowed, and to win the applause of her colleagues for not being partisan and obstinate. Her main efforts have been directed at raising massive sums of money for herself and her colleagues and making a lot writing and selling her memoirs. Her efforts on behalf of New York after 9-11 have been exposed as largely derivative of those of her colleague, the more effective Chuck Schumer.

She has passed no important legislation, except for twenty bills renaming post offices and courthouses and congratulating Alexander Hamilton, Shirley Chisolm, Harriet Tubman, the American Republic, and the Syracuse men’s and women’s Lacrosse team on their respective accomplishments.

Is this the experience upon which her candidacy is based? Did I leave anything out?"

Kinda scary, methinks.

Keep on keepin' on.

A Nice Tax Reminder

Tax reminder:
Don't forget to pay your taxes....21 million illegal aliens are depending on you!

Muchos gracias!

This About Sums It Up

Got this from here. This about sums up the Pelosi stunt. Congrats. You're now a puppet.

Keep on keepin' on.

Bluebonnets, Bluebonnets, Bluebonnets

This here's me pooch, Ms. Daisy in the bluebonnets. Awwwwww. All the ladies go guuuuuush.

Bean and I left last Friday to head to Austin to enjoy a relaxing weekend. It wasn't really that relaxing.

Before we even took off, the DFW metroplex was hit by hail, tornadoes, lightning, rain, and dogs and cats living together. I got done with work and was heading over to Bean's house, where we were planning on leaving to head to Austin. Well, when I was about 5 minutes from her house, it starts hailing...and raining...and throwin' down mad crazy wind gusts. I did what everybody else was trying to do...get under some cover.

I spotted an opening at a local gas station and I made a b-line for it. So did another dude. I didn't see him until he hit my truck. Thank God it was only minor damage, but I'm still gonna have to replace my front bumper. His damage is pretty minor too, so we are gonna try to handle each other's vehicle on our own. I'm not about to try to make a claim on this thing. It's only cosmetic damage, so it's not that important to get it fixed right away.*

We got it all sorted out and Bean and I finally made it to the greater Austin area that night. The next morning we drove out to Burnet, TX for their Bluebonnet festival. It was pretty interesting. They have a town square, and all along it were booths set up with assorted crafts for sale. There was also a live band playing country music. It was quaint and picturesque.

We then went out and found a field of bluebonnets and shot pictures for just under 2 hours. We covered just about every possible pose, with exception to the reverse-cowgirl, to shoot in front of the pretty flowers. Bean had fun though. It only took us that long because just as we finished shooting all that we wanted, the sun came out and significantly changed the lighting. So we had to shoot things all over again. Kinda funny...Not really.

Keep on keepin' on.

* For those of you keeping score at home, I've now wrecked my truck 4 times. In my defense, all of the accidents were fairly minor and cosmetic in nature. It's crazy. I've been driving for about 16 years, and I had never got into a wreck until I got this truck. And this truck is the only brand-new vehicle that I've ever had too. Coincidence?

Hairy Cameltoes

This post is dedicated to my friend, Cameltoes. Gotta love those hairy cameltoes (photo courtesy of Big D, a.k.a. Double D).

Keep on keepin' on.

Face Of A Traitor

Got this from here (AP/Yahoo photograph). Keep voting Democratic, and this will be the "new look" for da ladies in 2008 and beyond (I'm sure that Cosmo and Vogue will eat this look up.). This is Speaker of the House Nanci Peloci, in her headscarf, or a hijab. Congrats on betraying the country, Madam Speaker. It's not every day that you can undermine the country by talking to known sponsors of terrorism! Although there were 3 Republicans that went too, and I lump them in this category too. But they aren't exactly the 3rd in line for the Presidency now are they?

Make sure you know which way Mecca is. It might come in handy when you are forced to pray to Allah 5 times a day.

For more info on this story click here. It's a good report on the ramifications of Mrs. Pelosi's devastating trip to Syria.

I thought that she was supposed to be this big feminist, and one really pushing for women's rights? No better way to show yourself to be a "strong," modern woman than by submitting yourself to the men of Syria by donning a piece of clothing that humilates and degrades women.

Keep on keepin' on.

P.S. I'll write something on a lighter note next time, I promise.

Scheming Part Deux

Well, in my never-ending, mule-brain scheming, I've been approached with another business idea. Cameltoes has given me said idea/opportunity, and I'm actively thinking about it. I really don't have a lot to loose. I just have a few more questions to get answered, and I'll have my decision made. It sounds like a pretty good opportunity though. And anyway that I can make a few extra bucks that's legal and doesn't take up a ton of time, is fine with me.

Lord knows me needs another stream of income. Daddy needs to pay off some bills. Plus, I'm ready to retire, and yes I realize that I'm only in my early 30's.

On a different note, my housing situation is still in limbo. I'm waiting to see if my parents are gonna move soon or not. If they do, I will probably hang out at their house until the house sells. Which would basically involve me in living in a shell of a house for that time. And, it would also be about an hour commute each way. That will get old really, really quickly.

So, my living situation is still unsettled. It's kinda nice not paying any rent, but it's also getting pretty old since I'm homeless and living out of a suitcase. It does make me realize that I really don't need much stuff to live. The only things that I have available to me is my clothes, toiletries, a laptop, my cameras, and assorted books. Oh and Howie Fandel III. I can't forget him.

Peace out kids. I'm trying to post a bit more frequently. I know that you 2-3 readers out there have been crying about it.

Keep on keepin' on.

The Wedding

Here's a summary of Big R's and Lil N's wedding:

The crew reaches our destination on Friday afternoon. There are 5 groomsmen (6 if you include Big R) and all of us have our significant others with us.

Friday evening is the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner/bar crashing. Everything goes smoothly during the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After dinner, about 15 of us go to the bar to hang out and have a good time.

Annie was lucky enough to be our designated driver that night. So there were four men in the truck and Annie driving us. One of the groomsmen started speaking in Spanish. He was really getting into it, but I couldn't understand a word of it, except for the Spanish word for "harmonica."

I turned around and asked him, "What in the heck are you saying?"

He proceeds to tell us the translation, which involved something about "play my mushroom like a harmonica." Apparently, he's been to some interesting places in Mexico. So, Big R and I start laughing. I was laughing so hard that I started crying. Annie, on the other hand, was none too impressed. Poor girl. She was stuck in a truck with 4 not-so-sober dudes, with one of them saying some pretty graphic stuff about his "mushroom."

So we get back to the hotel, and since my place is always the gathering place, we end up chillin' there. The only problem is that it's about 2:30 A.M., and Annie was wanting to go to sleep. So, bless her heart, now she has 3 guys in her hotel room. And not a one of us able to pass a field sobriety test. Although, I was pretty stable. Big R and our Spanish-speaking friend were not anywhere close to the world of "sober."

Annie, the trooper that she is, didn't say a word and let the 3 of us hang out. The party didn't last too long though, and Big R eventually feel asleep in one of the chairs. It took an Act of Congress to get him up. I ended up escorting him back to his hotel room, but not before we did the "Tommy Boy" routine on Cameltoes' hotel door. You know the scene from "Tommy Boy" where David Spade is trying to wake up Chris Farley. So Big R and I are yelling "House keeping!" at his door at 3 in the morning. I'm very thankful that we didn't get kicked out of the hotel that night.

Cameltoes said that he did hear us, but he just wanted to ignore us. Not cool. You could have at least opened the door and said "Hi" to us. Poor, poor Cameltoes.

The next morning, I find out that Big Judy's wife is not feeling very well. She was actively vomiting until about 2 that afternoon. She felt so bad that she missed the wedding, which was a 6 P.M. Poor girl.

Saturday night was the wedding and the reception. The wedding went fine, except for Big R's profuse sweating during the entire deal.

The rehearsal was pretty interesting. I ended up in a dance-off competition with the Maid-of Honor to Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean." The crowd loved it, and I rocked it. I really needed some white socks and a fedora, and it would have been perfect. It was good to be "that guy" again.* I haven't done that in quite a while.

The reception ends and group of us heads to the bar. Unbeknownst to me, Annie had drank a little more than was normal for her. We again closed down the bar and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we get up and I can tell that Annie ain't exactly up to par. With every exhale she was moaning, and I knew that was not good. We had to get an extension for our checkout because she was moving that slow.

We finally hit the road a little after 1:00 P.M., and we hadn't traveled more than 5 miles when Annie told me to pull over. We stopped at a Love's. She hurled her guts out in the gas station bathroom. I was finally hungry, so while she was tossing her cookies, I was waiting for my Arby's sandwich. The smell of that meal almost made her loose it again, so I ate it rapidly.

We drove another 2 hours or so, and she was still feeling pretty bad. As a joke I asked her, "You know, we're getting pretty close to College Station. Do you want to stop and get some wing?" I must first say that Annie does NOT like buffalo wings. As soon as I said that, she starts gagging. I felt really bad for that. I really did. I was just trying to joke around with her. Honestly.

Well, about 2 minutes later she made me pull over. So with an audience of myself, about 40 goats, and an untold number of people that passed us as we were parked on the shoulder, she proceeded to hurl again. I was laughing pretty hard at the situation. Annie the trooper that she is, saw the humor in the moment. She said, "This is soooooo trashy."

Why would it be trashy? The fact that she was vomiting on the side of a busy highway? Or the fact that there was an audience of 40 goats watching?

I found out later that on Saturday night, Lil N was vomiting in their "Honeymoon Suite." No loving for Big R. Poor, poor Big R.

So, while the 6 of us guys all felt fine during the weekend's festivities, exactly 50% of our significant others had numerous bouts of vomiting. Pretty dang ironic, methinks.

Keep on keepin' on.

* When I say "that guy" I mean what people are saying when I'm on the dance floor, 99% of the time without a partner. It's when I'm really breakin' it down. So the people around would say, "Holy cow, look at that guy! He can really dance! I bet he's good in bed!" It's amazing how accurate that statement is. Good dancer = Good love maker.