Preseason #1 ??

I am overjoyed to see the official announcement from UNC that all three players announced they will return. Next year, my Tarheels should be preseason favorites! This is especially exciting since there is a chance I can finally travel to North Carolina to see a game at Chapel Hill!

I found a website I wanted to share, you might want to bookmark (or tag with delicious) for future reference. It is called SafeManuals and supposedly has over 800,000 manuals for appliances and the such. That might come in handy when you can't find an owner's manual for that cappuccino maker. There is a similar site out there for video game manuals, but I don't have that link handy for you.

Another site you might want to check out is KeepVid. Do you have a youtube, or a google video you want to download, and add to your iPod to watch later? Head here, and follow their instructions. It is as simple as throwing the url (address) of the video into a text box and clicking download. You then have a couple choices on what format. You need to Right-Click and Save As, to your desktop (leave it the default name and rename it after it downloads). Once that is done, rename it, transfer it to your iTunes, then you will have to convert it to iPod format. This is about the only thing I am using iTunes for anymore, now that I am an avid MediaMonkey user.

So I took Barkley and JayJay in last Saturday for their ears, nail trims, and the follow-up for just Barks is this Saturday. Well this past weekend, late Saturday night, the cyst on his back, which the vet had said was nothing to be worried about, well, not to be gross, but it popped open. I am sure if it was technically a cyst, but I was up pretty late Saturday night taking care of it and him (it was draining / bleeding, gross stuff). I shaved around it with my beard trimmer and tried my best to bandage it. I checked Sunday and it looked better, so I did my Fathers day thing. Later that night I messed with it some more and decided to make an appointment at the vet just to be sure it was ok. So yesterday I call to set a time to bring him in. The best I could do was a 5pm appointment. That is almost pushing it, because I get home a little after 4 everyday. By the time I let them both out, changed my clothes, it was about time to head back out. When I got his harness out (Barkley uses a harness instead of a standard leash collar, he thinks he is Houdini when he only has a collar). anyway, JayJay was not happy I was only loading him into the car, so she got to come along as well.

Once the vet came in to see us, he said the cyst wasn't as bad as it looked, gave me some antibiotics, more ear cleaner stuff, and offered to remove the cyst surgically. He said we wouldn't have to knock Barkley out, just sedate him, do a local around the affected area, remove it, sew it up, and while he is sedated it would be a good time for a thorough ear cleaning by them. I agreed only because I really trust and like the vet who was on duty last night (he owns the place). He said that the cyst would continue to seal itself, and 'pop' in the future, removing it would get rid of it forever. I had an appointment to see my regular vet around 10 for Barkley's followup, but he said he would come in on his day off, to do the procedure if we made the appt earlier. So I changed it to 8am. Yes I am a little nervous, I am so protective of my dogs, because they mean everything to me. Dr Pelfrey (the owner) said it would only take about 30 min, and Barkus could head back home, so I hope everything goes ok. He did give me even more ear stuff, so now each night, for each dog I have to do the following....
Chase them down, and practically sit on top of them
Use cleaner #1 in each ear, massaging it, then let them shake.
Wipe out each ear with cotton swabs/pads.

For Barkley, after the first cleaner he gets
2-3 drops of the second cleaner, massage

For each of them, Dr Pelfrey gave me a syringe (no needle) and marked a measurement, then...
x amount of cleaner #3 in each ear of each dog.

Finally they get a treat, and Barkley gets a antibiotic. I take some creamy peanut butter, and spread it over a milk bone, then disguise the pill. Both get the PB Milk bone, Barkley just has a pill mixed in. For the next three days, Barkley gets that syringe twice a day. Then it's every two weeks for each of them.

ok, just typing all that wears me out, but before I go, a BIG congrats to my friend Alex, and his better half Ann, for just about wrapping up the purchase of their new home, I'm excited and happy for them both!

ciao!