Poor Snickers

Snickers is without question the best dog in the world. Well, best for me anyway. She doesn't run agility courses or do any bizarre tricks, but she is very well-behaved. She is my first dog; I found her on PetFinder and adopted her through the Iredell Humane Society. I was interviewed and scrutinized in a way I wish many people would be prior to being allowed to conceive. She doesn't bark unless something is way wrong; smells like shampoo most of the time; sheds only lightly and respects what is mine and what is hers.

Recently, she had to have minor surgery. She has some crazy overactive gum masses that have been removed, but seem to return (though to a lesser degree). She also had a marble-sized cyst on the base of her tail. I took her in to have both removed when the gum issue became excessively large and began to consistently bleed. Poor girl!

The funny parts have been two-fold. 1) They shaved the first 1/4 of her tail, so she looks like a cross between a lion and a swiffer duster and 2) the surgery and meds have her uncharacteristically...um...gassy. She is so unfamiliar with this that when she farts, it startles her into jumping up and peering around to see what happened. Hysterical.....the amusement is almost, but not quite, worth the $416 bill.

The Kitten

I love my car. I bought my car new in 2001. I test-drove virtually every make/model known to man. I was married at the time and could afford to spend more on a car than I likely could now. I grew to love "The Kitten" more every day. It has been kept in pristine condition (spare a few unfortunate parking deck incidences); it has been detailed every four weeks of its life, it has been garaged both at home and work. No one is allowed to eat in the car, but perhaps you can have a small sip of a drink if you are parched. I did allow my beloved Snickers in the back, but only after swaddling the way-back in quilts. The Kitten has 177,000 miles on it; every one of which I have driven myself. So, based on this, you can understand my sadness when some YeeHaw ran into the side of it when Allison went to get a tuna sandwich from the deli. Allison is fine, mercifully. I first rented a Toyota Yaris, which is the chihuahua of cars, graduating to a Nissan Sentra that is very basic. Feel better, Kitten, you'll be home soon.