The magic of modern medicine

Well, the meds the vet prescribed for the Hermster appear to have worked as intended, according to Les. He's back to his excited, hungry, happy, hungry, loud, hungry, sweet Corgi self. I imagine it may be a day or so more before his system has completely cleared out, but at least he's no longer unwittingly eating for two. That's what happens, I guess, when a breed eats anything any everything that even remotely smells like food. :)

While the meds may have worked as intended, one unfortunate side-effect is the growth of a spare appendage which looks surprisingly like Herman's buddy, the Fruitbat:


Okay, okay. That was taken a couple weeks ago during a thunder storm (boy, does Herman REALLY not like thunder), when the two pals were so scared of the storm they had no problem with sharing a spot on the couch not quite big enough to share. As Herman explained it: "It was loud, and the air was electric, so my ears and hair hurt. I could have cared less if Fruitbat wanted to share in my misery. I just wanted the noise to end."

Feo just wants Herman to come over and play. She has a ball ready for herself...



...and a ducky ready for Herms. "Hurry up and get Les to bring you over, Herman! I really want to go crazy for five minutes with overwhelming excitement and then ignore you for 6 hours!"

In Jail

Herman seems to be doing better with the new pills the vet gave him yesterday. He is quarantined in the kitchen while I am gone until everything is cleared up. I don't want to spend another Sunday cleaning carpets.

He still can get out to his dog run from the kitchen and his buddy Oz the tabby visits. I don't know if Oz is visiting or taunting but it's still company. Hopefully this will clear up in a few days and all will be back to normal (mass chaos with cat chasing, barking, hissing, and food gobbling).

Sick Puppy

Herman is still one sick corgi. So I thought I should post a pic of him in happier times before he went around consuming gross stuff that makes him sick (oops he still does that). Herman's zest for food has given him stomach problems but it doesn't seem to stop him from continuing to enjoy himself.

Corgi Needlepoint

Just when you think you can't get enough of Corgi stuff - Corgi needlepoint! Herman wanted to help but his legs are too short.

Feo the Fierce

All this talk about issues and fishes and baths (oh my!) has Feo ferociously angered! "What about me?!" she screams.

Or perhaps the nice warm sun has her tired. ;)

*yawn*

Herman gets a bath

Al passed on his issues to Herman. Poor puppy had to endure two baths this weekend. What a sad face.

Baby Fish Update

Baby Al 1 & 2. Baby Al one is on the left. Or is it the right?

Little Princess

The little princess (fruitbat) is doing well in the Collins household happily chasing cats and barking at everyone that walks past my house. Herman loves to join in on anything that involves chasing and barking. Pictured is Feo ready for bed with her teeny beanie baby fishy. She and Herman are oblivious to the three ticked off cats plotting against them in the next room. Oz takes great pleasure in smacking Feo when she least expects it.

Fruitbat visits Killer and the three cats

Fruitbat is coming to stay with Herman and all three cats while Al is away. This is what Ori thinks about it.

How many cats can you fit in one cat bed?

I shall name him Baby Al . . .

A new fish was born to the Collins Corgi, Cats and Catfish household. I decided to save the baby Molly and name him Baby Al. He (the fish not Al) is in a fish tank breeding net where he seems to be doing well. He is eating up a storm (just like Al). Baby Al is too small to take a pic of, but here is Oz exploring my fish tank.

An interesting weekend

... A Flash Flood Warning remains in effect until 915 PM MDT for east
central Natrona County...

That included us. It's not unusual for Casper to get afternoon thunderstorms this time of year, but generally speaking they are short and sweet, or might last a couple hours if the storm is slow moving. Friday was an exception.

My folks had come up from Colorado for the holiday weekend and my dad and I were just starting to grill the corn to go with our beer-boiled brats when I hear my dad announce, "Holy...!" The second word was lost in the wind and sound of the wall of rain slamming into the west side of the house. Quite literally in the blink of an eye the skies went from overcast to monsoonal. The winds were bringing sheet after sheet of rain and hail. The wind was so strong that the elms I have out front on my property line were bent completely horizontal (I was actually concerned it might be a tornado). The warning sirens went off twice, but I could just barely make them out over the noise of the storm.

Half-way through the 40 minute ordeal my ceiling started leaking. I was afraid the storm had blown off some shingles on the west side, but it seems like the rain was blowing with such a strong sideways component that it likely went in through one of the roof vents (designed to keep normal rain and snow -- the kind that falls down, not sideways -- out).

Anyway, it was a real doozy. The county, I heard this morning, has declared a disaster. Interstate intersections were completely flooded out and under five feet of water. The city has set up special collection dumpsters all around town for downed tree limbs. Honestly, even after living off and on for eight years in Atlanta, where big storms are the norm, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this one. I'm just glad Les and I escaped any property damage and that everyone we care about is okay.

(If you're interested, here's a link to the local paper for more info http://www.casperstartribune.com/articles/2009/07/06/news/casper/c1914244a978aba9872575ea00063531.txt ).

Saturday was rain-free and a fun day. The folks, Les, and I all went downtown for some shopping, and SURPRISE! my mom found all sorts of goodies. We went to a little bookstore called the Blue Heron where I bought two mysteries by a local author (I'd tell you his name, but my mom has claimed them :) ). After that we went to Lou Talbert's Outfitters. My mother was quite skeptical, ("Will they have anything other than cowboy clothes?"), but ended up buying half the store. One particularly funny moment occurred when my mother (who has absolutely no modesty) was trying on different tops and in the middle of the store just started undoing her blouse to try on another. Well, this is a pretty common occurrence in some of the boutiques she shops at home, but not here in Wyoming. As soon as her bra became exposed I heard an audible gasp from the saleslady helping her, and it was all she could do to get my mom to cover up. I thought the lady was going to pass out. Sorry. No pictures. :D

That evening we met up with Les's mom and her friend Jody, and her dad and his friend and life-partner, Pam and went to the Casper Ghosts baseball game (the local Pioneer League farm team for the Colorado Rockies -- why they changed the name from the Casper Rockies to the Casper Ghosts and adopted a purple platypus for a mascot is something I think only a Wyoming native might be able to explain to me). The game was pretty one sided as the Ghosts really stink so far this year, and the Ogden Raptors don't. Even so, a grand time was had by all (though my "issue" was back in full force, so I had a really hard time, but that's neither here nor there). The ballpark brats were great (at least I thought so, Les may be less inclined to sing their praises), and the atmosphere was really relaxing.

Here's a pic of all that went (the only one I got where you can see everyone). From left to right are Aphrodite (ok, Les), my mom, Kathy, and dad, Art, Pam (Chuck's life-partner), Les's dad, Chuck, Jody, and Les's mom, Deanna.


And here's another with my dad looking somewhat devious. Miss Wyoming USA was there signing autographs and I think he was considering whether or not it would be worth the repercussions for him to saunter over and get her autograph.


The game for us ended in the top of the 9th when the announcer told the crowd that the National Weather Service was warning of another storm like Friday's that was 30 minutes away. We, and half the crowd beat feet out of there.

Not a single drop of rain fell for the rest of the night.

Sunday my folks left, but Deanna stayed one more day at Les's and the two of them helped me with some yard work (thank goodness for BIG favors). Anyway, needed to keep my feet up, so I missed the biggest day of the weekend -- Herman's 8th Birthday!

Les was kind enough to send me some pics throughout the evening, though. Clearly, Herman knew how dashing he looked in his birthday tie...


He was overcome with joy at his present (I would be, too, if I had a chewy half the size of my head, but I'm a bit odd).


And as any good birthday should end, Herman was completely exhausted and didn't even mind his fluffy little bunny butt being recorded for "posterity." ;)

Another cat!

Odin! Cat two of three. Wait until you see me get pics of the catfish.

Talk to the paw!

Oz wants to point out that there are more animals than dogs in this household. There are cats, more cats, and even catfish.

The Apostrophe

Finally bothered to look it up...

Singular nouns (including people's names), indefinite pronouns, and acronyms add the apostrophe and -s.

Ex.: Dickens's novels

Plural nouns (including people's names) ending in -s add only the apostrophe.

Ex.: the Jonses' house

(From: Hodges' Harbrace Handbook, fourteenth edition, 2001)

So it's Les's!!!

How's that for a blog post? :p

Ah, rain.

Wow. Our blog has one whole follower. Guess if we actually told someone about it we might have, well, still one follower.

It's raining cats and dogs here right now which is very good on a number of fronts. First, I don't have to worry about watering, and I'm certainly not going to rake in the rain, both of which would have probably aggravated my "issues."

[Side-note: I think for any health concern I have in the future I'm just going to refer to it as an "issue." You should see the way people at work immediately change the subject when they ask why you were out of work the day before and you respond with, "Oh, just a health issue." It's like they think you have leprosy. Kinda funny, actually, especially with the really annoyingly intrusive coworkers.]

Back to the rain... We've had a ton of water this year and the countryside is green green green with vegetation. One would think that a good thing, but once the rain stops, all that vegetation becomes fuel for fires in a hurry. Since Les gets the honor of dealing with the local media, when fire season hits she can get extremely busy. Selfishly, I would much rather have her all to myself (well, after the attention she gives to Herman/Killer, Ori, Odin, and Oz), so this nice soaking rain will prolong my monopolization of the Les market.

Then, of course, there is the equalization factor of the rain. My neighbor's daughter is in the lawn care biz, so needless to say their lawn is immaculate. Les's (Les'? Damn! I gotta look that up one of these days.) neighbor is a retired couple whose children are Leprechauns that live in the recesses of their perfectly coifed grass (that's the only thing I can think of that would cause their sheer terror when they even think Herman might be about to lift his leg on their sod).

The rain puts us all on equal footing if only until it dries out. It knocks leaves and dead branches onto the grass from above, it nourishes each plot of grass equally, and (perhaps most importantly) it makes everything gray for long enough to make everybody's lot look the same.

Okay. Gotta eat.

Flank Steak Comes To Visit!

Flank Steak Comes To Visit!

Herman will be 8 this Sunday. He is a rescue dog from the Newcastle Humane society. His short little legs have plodded into our hearts and we are Corgi addicts now.

Herman is all excited about this weekend. Sunday is his barkday and tomorrow flank steak (aka Principessa) is coming to visit. Principessa (also known as Principasta, Principelli, and Bubba) is a dainty, very ladylike Bichon owned by Al’s parents. She is the originator of the name Killer. Her piercing bark is awfully hard on Corgi ears.

Principessa really doesn’t know what to do with Killer and Fruitbat. I hope Killer can keep his paws to himself this weekend. Herman is hoping for a cake on his barkday, but no flank steak.

Blegos

This blogging thing reminds me of playing with Legos when I was a little tyke. I'd build what I thought was the most grandiose structure ever to have been conceived in the little building blocks only to look up and see that my sister had constructed a true palace with a moat, working drawbridge, gilded thrones, and a very dark dungeon for my now crushed soul.

I made the mistake of looking at other people's blogs and what do you know! I feel like this one is lacking from the start. I chose the basic template for the layout, basic font, etc. I don't have the sharp wit and banter that so many seem to have, and the only creative aspects of this blog were developed by Les ("Adventures of Killer and Fruitbat" for instance).

So, not being one to ever give up without a fight (though I did quit gymnastics in elementary school, but let's be honest -- I was the only boy in a group of a bazillion caddy girls and quickly became the butt of every joke by every friend I thought I had. Trust me, at that awkward age the last thing I needed was more taunting. But I digress...), I have decided to do what I do best. Monkey with things.

Well, monkey with things and talk.

I just hope this doesn't end with me getting obsessed with Html. I have enough hobbies.