Nora and Her Puppy Ralph

After giving Ralph some TLC, she then decided Ralph need to wear a helmet:

Safety is Job Number One

Bath time nears…and that is another Idaho weekend.

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Starting around Tuesday of last week, we had a fair amount of spring-ish weather blow through — you know, it is March — in like a lion.  Not much down here in the valley (never is, yes, it is somewhat boring), but the mountains had a pretty white covering on them most morning commutes, when you could see them.  I paid little attention to it all, figuring (ok, assuming) it was more a dusting of soft snow instead of massive dumping of fresh pow-pow.  Well, come Thursday, a buddy at work sends out an APB, looking for cohorts for a Friday adventure.  Come to find out, Bogus Basin, the local ski area about 20 miles up the road to the northeast of us, had been receiving fresh snow all week, and was up to 20-24″ of new snow.  My beautiful, sweet, loving wife was supportive, and I locked in the plans to travel up around noon on Friday.

Oh Friday…what a day Friday was…

I packed my lunch, packed some after boarding snacks, and loaded up the boarding gear into the pickup.  I departed at the same time as Flossie and Nora, taking Tyler in the pickup with me.  He is all about riding the pickup with daddy now — you know, mud, guts, diesel exhaust, all that jazz.  I worked a few hours as the anticipation started to build.  I committed some changes at 11:30, finished up some leftover Chinese, and poof, picked up a pal from work and away we went.

We arrived around 1:30ish, party cloudy skies, not much of a breeze at the base, and a fair crowd of other folks playing in the snow.  We took the Deerpoint lift up, slid off at the top, and took an easy run down.  Oh my…even with plenty of tracks, the sides were barely touched, and it was soft all over.  The board made a sweet singing sound as the soft snow and board made gentle contact as I wisked down the hill.  We quickly hopped on over to the backside, and entered heaven.

The snow…was…incredible, and it was everywhere.  Cat tracks were more ungroomed runs, with powder everywhere.  Zipping down to the Superior chair, we headed up, and began a four hour pleasure tour of the backside of Bogus Basin.  I am really at a loss on how to describe it, it was just an amazing day to be out on the snow.  It was so soft, the board was floating on a light meringue of white joy.  Where the wind had touched, there were natural jumps that allowed you to point it, hit it, and if you missed the landing, you had a huge charmin-like bedding of snow to ease you down.  Oh, the work it took to come down the runs though, constantly carving and working the snow, so enjoyable, yet so strenuous, yet so worth it.  Truly one of the finest in my short history of snowboarding.

After arriving home, Tyler quickly welcomed me back, explaining how much he missed me for the two hours or so he had been home without me around.  He then asked if he could go skiing too, so, his mother and I consulted, and we hatched a plan for Sunday, and spent Saturday getting the chores knocked off to play the next day.

On Sunday, Nora woke us up as usual, and she started in on her yogurt while the rest of the house slumbered.  I started gathering up the gear, and Tyler soon plopped down the stairs, and quickly remember what the day would bring.  He did well dressing himself, cleaning his teeth and such, and was eager to go skiing (and also eat a breakfast bar in the Tahoe on the way there).

The drive was uneventful, about 28 minutes navigating town to get to Hill Road and Bogus Basin Road, and another thirty minutes to zip on up the winding roads.  For those keen enough to remember, the last time the Tahoe and Erben family went up this road, it was September, and we came back with the worst stomach flu I have ever seen.  It was nice of Flossie to mention that point as we started heading up the road.  However, the kids are just super travelers, and in addition to chattering at each other, they watched out the window, saw the snow covering the ground around 4800 feet, and had no apparent car sickness.

Arriving, Tyler and Flossie headed in to get Tyler signed up for lessons.  We received some bad information (ok, miscommunication) on group lessons for Tyler’s age group, so this time, he would have a private lesson.  As Flossie and Tyler picked out his rental gear, Nora and I parked the car and dressed for the wintry weather.  It was about 18 to 20 degrees, with a stiff wind at the base when we arrived.  Thankfully the wind subsided, but it was still chilly for Treasure Vallians (remember, in Wyoming, at 15-20 degrees, folks put on a long sleeve shirt, so we are still a bit more hardy than your typical folk in this part of the country).

Tyler’s lesson was at 12:30, and he was geared up at 12:00, so we spent a few minutes in the lodge before heading out.  There were a number of people, but it was not overly crowded.  We had the requisite 15 minute bathroom break (all that snow gear and then we have to go poddy), and headed outside to meet Tyler’s instructor.  Nora and Tyler were very keen on the snow, and had some fun playing with pieces of ice while we waited for a few minutes.  As Flossie helped Tyler put back on his gloves, Nora offered to hold up the skis for her brother, and looked very good doing it.  Almost like she was going to hijack them and hop on the chairlift herself…

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Tyler headed off with his instructor, and after putting on his skis and talking for a few minutes, they were up on the Coach chair (a double chair) for the bunny slope.  As they rode up, Nora, Flossie, and I walked up closer toward the bunny slope.  Along the way, Nora was enthralled with the scene.  She waved at Tyler, she waved at other kids, she stared at people on skis, she ate snow, she fell down, she got up.  At one point, she was standing up looking out, Flossie and I were looking up the hill for Tyler, and looked back to see her flat on her back laying still.  For a second we thought she biffed it, but she was there, eyes closed, smirking.  She thought it was cool to lay in the snow.  I tried teaching her snow angels, but mainly she just wanted to lay there.  Hell, the snow was so soft, so did I.

Tyler came down, and looked to be doing well.  In all, he made three runs in his hour lesson, working on his turning skills the entire time.  From the chat with the instructor, it sounds like his right leg is stronger right now, enabling him to turn to the left more easily than the right.  A few more lessons and hopefully he will have the turning thing down.  He had no problems getting up on the skis, walking on them, getting on the lift, or stopping with a wedge — it seemed to be fresh in his mind from our Brundage trip.  A few more lessons and we will have to try a day on the slopes with Mommy and Daddy.

Oh, and went we arrived home, it started snowing huge wet flakes for about thirty minutes.  Eros and Ralph had a nice buildup of accumulation in only a few short minutes in the backyard:

Eros and Ralph take on wet snow as they make a quick jaunt to the backyard.

That was a mighty fine weekend in Idaho…

They can be found below:

http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2007/06/grrr/ Alas…after being up earlier than usual to do a visit to the porcelain gods for unknown reasons Tuesday morning, a nice, quite slumber in the wee hours of Friday morning is cut short due…too…

Now, I am sure you are all thinking, Nora, it has to be that cute, chubby, darling daughter of mine. Wrong.

Ms. Nora has been a fairly good little sleeper this week on average, including last night. No…no…this morning, we had barking dogs.

I am sure you are thinking I was cursing out Ralph and/or Eros. Wrong. My dogs hardly make a murmur between about 10PM and 9AM, unless Ralph goes out for a constitutional and discovers a feline snooping about.

Nope, our friendly neighbors to the west are out of town, and one of their poochies decided he was pissed off and wanted to bark…and bark…and bark. He’s still out there yelping, even after I lost it at 7:15 and chewed his ass, only to stir him up more I suppose. Part of me is frustrated as Flossie has been up, I am sure it does not help Nora sleep (Tyler is a zombie, it will not disturb him), but mostly, it kept me up !

However, I do need to come back to Earth, and realize, I own dogs as well, and those dogs at times are left home alone, and they do may feel lonely/abandoned/upset/vindictive, and bark as well…but at least Ralph has a cool howl and Eros will only bark for a few minutes before heading into the garage to curl up.

So, my bag is packed and I am ready to head into work…on…my…mountain bike. Today will mark the second week of using pedal power to get into the office, and I think I have only gained 1lb this week. Need to pedal faster I guess. I have a semi-permanent loan of a bike from a work associate, and have been riding into the office 2-3 days a week, as Flossie has generously offered to commute the kid to daycare. So, we are not saving on fuel just yet…but as soon as I get the old habits back on riding, it may be time to find a wagon to tote behind the bike so I can chauffeur Tyler around at least. Maybe Flossie will get one too…hey…anyway to preserve the valley air, cut down the fuel bill (put that fuel to use for railfan adventures with the t-man), and drop a few lbs is worth a shot.

]]> http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2007/06/grrr/feed/ 2 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2006/11/boo/ http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2006/11/boo/#comments Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:37:00 +0000 erben22 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2006/11/boo/ This is very tempting…

http://www.petpeek.info/

]]> http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2006/11/boo/feed/ 2 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/when-dogs-and-squirrels-collide/ http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/when-dogs-and-squirrels-collide/#comments Wed, 11 May 2005 03:46:00 +0000 erben22 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/when-dogs-and-squirrels-collide/ As I slowly work through a backlog of items for the blog, tonight I present to you a short video clip…well, a few minutes at least of good old fashioned canine fun. A few weeks ago, Tyler and I were hanging out on a drizzly morning when Lupus decided to stop in for a visit. Eros and Ralph, as hospitable as they are, welcomed him with open mouths. Slide on over to the video section, or follow the link below to catch the excitement.

 

]]> http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/when-dogs-and-squirrels-collide/feed/ 1 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/the-squirrel-situation-a-photographic-insight/ http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/the-squirrel-situation-a-photographic-insight/#comments Wed, 04 May 2005 17:50:00 +0000 erben22 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/the-squirrel-situation-a-photographic-insight/ Probably need to keep this short as the end of Dad and Tyler time draws near, and I must prepare myself for the insanity I subject myself to five days a week. Tyler is catching a few Z’s here on the floor, so I slapped together another gallery. But, get this, it is NOT a Tyler related gallery. No no no…that kid has been pushed to the back seat, this time, we have dogs and squirrels.

For those of you lucky enough to talk to us on the phone, or visit us, you may be familiar with our squirrel problem. See, it is not that squirrels are causing damage to our property, it is that they are playing evil mind games with the dogs. Eros and Ralph are part of the anti-squirrel league, a group formed by many canines across the US, and flourishing since the advent of email. Through this network, they communicate, share stories, and learn new hunting techniques. For example, it is not enough to go outside and bark at the squirrel. Eros has perfected the “uber-still-no-flinch” move in which she becomes a rock, and does not budge. However, she keeps her legs cocked, and when the squirrel is lured into thinking she is a statue, and attempts to make a getaway, she breaks loose and begins the “hot pursuit”.

So far, the dogs are 0-for-531 in catching a squirrel, but it is not for a lack of trying. We are also now part of a squirrel civil war in which one squirrel, we call him Maverick, is trying to edge in on the home turf of Lupus, our long-time resident. This has increased the tendency for the squirrels to make less thoughtful moves, and to venture into the yard, marking their territory.

Last week, I caught Lupus (I think, still trying to figure out which is which, they all look the same to me) checking out the yard. While the dogs waited patiently in the house, I snapped a few pictures, then opened the flood gate. Here are a few shots from this day.

 

]]> http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/05/the-squirrel-situation-a-photographic-insight/feed/ 3 http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/04/gonzo-112486-42105-a-tribute/ http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/04/gonzo-112486-42105-a-tribute/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:43:00 +0000 flossiekate http://flossie-and-cody.mtnaircomputer.net/2005/04/gonzo-112486-42105-a-tribute/

Sadly, the day that many thought may never get here, has come and gone. Gonzo, my cat for the majority of my life, left this world peacefully yesterday at 3:03PM. I wanted to give her a proper eulogy, so I apologize for the length that this post may become. As I think over her very long life, 18 years 4 months 28 days, I am reminded of so many stories and personality quirks. I wanted to walk through some of them. As I know many of you have met, lived with or been around Gonzo, I encourage any of you that would like to share your most memorable “Gonzo moments” to do so in the “comment” section of this utility.

The first time I met Gonzo, it was Christmas break of my 6th grade year. A co-worker of my mom had a cat who had kittens and they had one left. The runt. My mom, sister and I showed up to pick her up and was told that the night before, the lady’s husband had to shut down and move the water heater because the kitty we were getting was stuck and needed rescuing. I’m sure that my mother was wondering what she was getting into. Little did we know. She was the cutest kitten with fluffy hair that stuck out, a head a little too big for her body, and a pair of big blue-green eyes. She was 5 weeks old. She was a very curious cat and smart. You could almost see her brain working on “how” to get somewhere when she was determined.

When we got her home, I remember her walking through the living room. She still hadn’t “mastered” the use of her claws. She was strutting (as only Gonzo can strut) through the room and one of her claws got stuck in the carpet and she promptly completed a major face plant. Because she was so little, my parents didn’t want her wandering through the house alone, so at night she was closed in my bedroom. Among a waterbed which a little kitten enjoys, I also had a metal dresser. She used to run around like I have seen other animals, in a crazy, sporadic pattern. One night, after I had turned off the lights and was in that blissful moment right before falling asleep, I heard her running around, and then a very loud *GOOONNNGG*. I’m still not sure what part of her actually hit the dresser, but she was definitely dazed.

I don’t know what “sense” it knocked into her, but from that point on she became very deliberate in all her moves. Every part of her had to be “just so”, the tail perfectly curved around her feet when sitting, her nose just slightly elevated, every hair in perfect placement. This earned her the description of “snobby cat” from many of my family and friends. During this phase of her life she developed a particular taste for ice water and bathtub/shower water. You could never leave a glass of ice water unattended, because she would either be drinking it. Or in her infinite wisdom, if she couldn’t get her head into the glass far enough to reach the water, she would knock the glass over to get the ice on the floor. She would also “take showers” with you. She would sit on the edge of the bathtub between the two shower curtains so that she could “peek out” and not get wet, but still be able to lick the water gathered on the tile. After a while, she found a drippy faucet and found that she could get fresh, cold water at her leisure.

At 6 months old, just a couple days after getting fixed, she snuck out of the house and disappeared for a week and a half. We were just sure that someone stole her, or she was run over. My sister and I never gave up hope though. Sure enough, a week and a half later she showed up on our doorstep a lot lighter, REALLY hungry and a new meow. Come to find out, she had been locked into our elderly neighbors crawl space. Their hearing was not the sharpest, and they couldn’t hear her. However, this event proved that Gonzo had a steely determination and will to live that would stay with her throughout her life. My mom also insists that this event “broke her meow-er” as from this point on, she had the loudest, most insistent meow that I’ve ever heard on a cat.

At this point in her life, Gonzo became mainly an indoor cat by her own choosing. She rarely went outside and only would if you left the door “propped open” for a speedy escape if needed. She rarely ventured farther than 20 feet from the door.

Our move from Colorado to Wyoming was an interesting phase of events. Gonzo had to not only move, but she had to move 3 times in 4 months. She endured living in a motel room for a month, living basically locked in one room in my Granny and Pa’s house and then finally moving into our own house in Laramie. When living in my grandparents house, she had to stay in one room because my grandparents had a black male cat named Jack. Jack figured out that there was a “girl cat” in the house and began bringing her “presents”. Numerous were the mornings that my mom woke up and opened her bedroom door to find a dead mouse, bird and various other animals. I found it quite cute that Jack was courting her, but I believe that my mom felt otherwise.

When in Laramie, for the first time, Gonzo was not an “only cat”. My sister got a kitten by the name of Sebastian. Gonzo was not thrilled with a kitten chasing her around and idolizing her, as Sebastian did. Unfortunately, Sebastian never learned to use the litterbox properly, and she became a happy only kitty again. At this point, Gonzo started going outside more often. She enjoyed going out on a warm summer’s night. The problem with this is that our family are all fairly heavy sleepers and have become used to ignoring Gonzo’s meows. When she would want in at 3:00 in the morning, she would meow. Occasionally, we would get a phonecall in which the caller would hang up as soon as we answered, but then realized that Gonzo was outside. We believe it was a neighbor awakened by Gonzo and they were subtly telling us to let our obnoxious cat in!

I believe that it was at this phase of Gonzo’s life that she realized the “power” she had in her voice. From this point on, she used it well. Life with Gonzo went on as I went to college. She would live with my sister and I “sometimes”, depending on if the landlord where we were living allowed pets. So, that chocks up more of Gonzo’s moving. When adding it up, Gonzo has lived in 8 different places, not to mention the “traveling” that she did. But, I’ll get to that later.

When I graduated from college, Cody and I moved her to Boise with us. I remember the drive up here. It was mid-July and I was driving Cody’s 87 firebird and Gonzo was sitting on the center console, right in front of the air conditioner! We moved into our house on Fig street with relatively little problems. I remember one of the first days we were living in the house, Gonzo stood in the hallway, in front of the spare bathroom meowing. After a while, Cody came in and said, “What does she want?!” I said, “She wants you to turn on the faucet in the bathtub to a drip so that she can drink out of it. Don’t do it. Once you give in, she will be a bear.” Cody said, “I’m doing it, anything to shut her up.” Well, that set a precedence. From then on, Gonzo knew that her power of verbal persuasion over Cody was great.

After we had lived in Boise for a few months, Cody went back to Chadron to pick up Ralph and bring him to live with us. For the first week that Ralph lived with us, Gonzo had a new vantage point. She had figured out how to get up on the cupboard, the fridge, the top of the cabinets, all the way to the center beam next to the ceiling. She could watch Ralph in the living room, dining room and kitchen without having to “deal” with him. Again, her amazing brain figuring out how to get where she wanted to go.

Eventually, she and Ralph became family. When she was out front and came across a renegade cat in the neighborhood, her growls would bring Ralph a-running and he’d chase off the offending nemesis. When we moved, yet again, to our current residence, Gonzo enjoyed the larger area.

When we got Nicademous, was the first time that I thought Gonzo was not invincible. I think she decided she was way too old to deal with a kitten and her thyroid had probably started acting up without our knowledge. After a trip to the Pet ER, she was resurrected into her fine, if somewhat cantankerous, self. However, from this point on, certain of her finer particulars went away. Most notably, she could care less about her appearance and her fur.

Due to her lack of concern about her fur, she was regularly shaved in various patterns by various humans attempting to “help her out”. But, she took it in stride with her strong resolve, just as she always had. In these later years, she was constantly hungry and thirsty, but you could still hear her “playing” late in the nighttime hours. She was still a kitten at heart. She always made the goofiest sound when she was playing and if you didn’t know better, you’d think she was sick. But, if you ever caught her playing with something, she would immediately drop it and walk away, denying ever having stooped to the level of “playing”.

She made a few Christmas trips, and has been in more states than some people I know. The following are her list of states: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. Overall, she traveled fairly well. After the initial 20 minutes of complaining, she would buckle down and enjoy the ride.

In her later years, a battle with her weight and thyroid kept her extremely skinny, but still in good spirits. She never let anything get to her. She ran her household, including the other pets and even people, with an iron fist. She almost always got her way.

She left this world the same way she lived the rest of her life, with determination, strength and her own unique characteristics. I was with her when she left this world, and ironically, as her spirit left her body, my son at that exact moment, screamed in hunger, as though she was passing her torch to Tyler to continue on. Who would have ever thought that the little kitten that we brought home in 86 would live to see the entrance of my own child to this world.

As I am writing this tribute to the most personality filled animal I have ever known, I am noticing that the small things that we have built into our everyday actions and activities have been molded by this verbose personality. I am struck at how eerily quiet the house is, without her demanding some water, food or lack of attention from Nicademous. I will probably always put my water up in an unreachable place, and I doubt I will ever be able to slice cheese without thinking about the cheese-aholic cat demanding some.

If you are all still reading this, I appreciate you letting me babble on about a precious member of my family, regardless of how small, loud, cantankerous, crotchety and snobby Gonzo ever was. I hope that I have done her justice. She was one of a kind.

Gonzo, rest in peace, and you will live on in our heart and thoughts forever. We love you!

I called this morning at 6:00 on her, and the ER Vet says she is still weak, but she is eating, getting up to use the litterbox and she is vocal while getting her vitals checked. If she ever is “not” vocal, then you worry!

Anyway, Cody should be taking her back to our normal vet again this morning to see where we go from here. She may get her thyroid meds changed.

We’ll keep you posted.

Normally, I am fairly isolated from the world’s events, but last night, in a partial hops and pizza sauce induced haze, expending too much energy hanging on every pitch in the Cards 8-3 thumping of LA again, I realized there might be some signs that the old mountain is going to erupt. So where do I get my highly unscientific data from you ask ? I point to these two…

My evidence…since Sunday when the family started rolling out of our fair city, these two wack jobs have done nothing but run at 110%. Mind you, they are not young pups, old Ralph is pushing 10 years of human life, set to flip the big one-naught on December 15th. Eros herself, while young, is approximately thirty months of age (her breed has an average life-span in the 72 to 96 month range). Case in point, last night, I arrive home around 18:30, ordering a pizza from work for delivery. I feed the animals, dealing with Ralph and Eros running around, stumbling over Gonzo once, and panting in anticipation of a walk. They eat as I watch an inning of baseball…then the pizza arrives. I break out the beer, and pull up on the couch, pants still buttoned. Ralph comes over, jumps up on the coffee table, and attempts to swipe my pizza or Moose Drool, I’m not sure which. I dismiss it as a random act of a dog’s life.

So, as I continue to watch the game, Ralph and Eros decide that it is time to practice WWF doggie wrestling, a usually occurrence most of the time. Except, this evening, they go at it for at least an hour, intermixed with a few interventions on my part when tempers flare. See, Eros will only put up with Ralph’s actions for so long before she gets on all fours and dishes out a little punishment from 105 lbs of well oiled street dog. Ralph in his wisdom (or lack thereof), does not bow down, and instead rises up and fights the power, which usually results in some sort of minimal wound.

So, after the wrestling in the living room, I head upstairs, done with pizza, but working on my Moose Drool still. I fire up the TV and computer monitors, prop up the feet, and enjoy life (and Dan Haren coming within a few feet of putting the cards up 9-3). Sure enough, the dogs join me upstairs, and continue to wrestle, banding into the walls, chasing each other up and down the stairs, barking, yelping, and causing a ruckus.

With all this activity, I conclude that Mt. St. Helens will indeed erupt in the near future, as the full moon has come and gone, and the activity and wackiness continues. I’m going to swing by the vet tonight to see if I can pickup some doggie valium…or maybe I just open the front door and see how many laps Eros can make around the block in a five minute window.

In case you are curious, said ‘friend’ was on our porch when I let Eros out at some point in the morning. Since Nicademous was recovering from his leg operation, I encouraged him to go outside and check things out. Low and behold, he decided he wanted to unleash some energy and began trying to revive Stiffy. Alas, Stiffy was still dead when Nicademous tired of the ordeal, but it made for some entertaining moments.

Second, just a quick update on Nicademous and his gimpy leg. The lil
guy is probably back to about 90-95% capacity. He can jump up to his
old food dish now without trouble, and can jump on the couch and bed
without assistance of front claws. His energy level is up nicely, and
he’s back to chasing dogs, stalking birds, and grooming Gonzo. His
shaved rear leg area is filling in with hair, but he still has
somewhat of an odd appearance.

UPDATE ( May 8, 2004):

I have posted some pictures of Nicademous after his surgery over in the galleries section:

The lil guy is kicking ass and taking names, acting much like his oldself. He has come over to check out Gonzo a few times, and it back to getting on the couch and bed, as well as cruising up and down the stairs. I even caught him stalking a bird yesterday afternoon in the backyard after he came out and spent some time on the porch sniffing the spring air and green grass.

On Sunday upon our arrival though, Nicademous was barely moving, and favoring his rear left leg quite heavily. If you touched it in several locations, he would meow in agony, and was visibly displeased. However, he would move across the floor on it, and even jumped on the couch and the bed with it. While troublesome, we figured it might be a deep bruise or maybe ligament/muscle related.

So, Monday I took him over to the vet over lunch, and they held him for X-rays. A few hours later, the verdict was in, and it turns out Nicademous has a fracture of the femural head. The part of his leg that goes into the hip socket is broken, and causing his discomfort. Last night, Nicademous spent the night, and this morning went in for surgery to remove the femural head portion of the bone. Then, supposedly the scar tissue will fill in and be fairly normal.

Now, none of this is news to me because ole Junior, the black and white hard luck cat we had during my younger years had a similar incident. In his young years, Junior was struck by a car, and managed to make it back to the yard where we found him the next day. He too had a fracture around his rear hip/leg bone, and either the ball would not go back in the socket, or similar to Nicademous, he had to have the ball removed so he could live another ten years or so of agony and bad luck.

Last check, Nicademous made it through the procedure ok, and is now on the path of recuperation. I am sure we will see Gonzo bringing him tasty selections from the menus out in the backyard, including Filet oh Parakeet, and Prime Bird. The dogs…well…they will be quick to get Nicademous back on his feet and moving, quickly, out of their way.

Anyway, I posted a few pics of the results in the Eros gallery…

  -    -  

Yesterday morning, after Cody had left for work, I was taking the kids for their morning walk. There is a guy in the neighborhood that just purchased a new, white Duramax, crew cab pickup. As we were approaching, the neighbor came out to start his pickup to warm up due to the frosty morning.

Both Ralph and Eros stopped dead in their tracks. Immediately they started trying to cross the street to “go for a ride.” With the sound of the diesel and the white pickup, they were absolutely convinced that Cody was across the street. They were not going to let him leave without them. It took massive cajoling to convince them to come home. Even then, it was a lot of dragging and promising treats!

Lesson to the Erben household, keep an eye out for suspicious white, running Duramaxes in presence of the poochies!