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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 30, 20112:56 pm| 37 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I’m so damned stressed out right now I think I could explode.

Oh, and Rosie has another eye infection. There’s another 50 bucks.

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Next Post: But This Time It is Different »

Reader Interactions

37Comments

  1. 1.

    SIA

    March 30, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    Me too, and we’re having a string of gray, drizzly days. Too much to do, and I just don’t have the drive any more to attack the work load. Plus the US is f’d up to no end.

    Other than that, all is well. And I really mean that.

    ETA, AND I live over the shop, so to speak, and my assistant and an art dealer both got 100.00 parking tickets for parking in front of my house today, which I feel obligated to pay. And Angel the Cat (our version of Rosie) is driving me INSANE.

  2. 2.

    cleek

    March 30, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    i find that scotch gets me through times of severe stress much better than severe stress gets me through times of no scotch.

  3. 3.

    beltane

    March 30, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    We’re getting another 4 inches of snow to freshen up the 2 feet that are still on the ground. Oh, and we found that one of the cats has been sneaking into the linen closet and peeing on the towels. Other than that everything’s fine.

  4. 4.

    srv

    March 30, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Chill – the Wurlitzer for arming the amateurs or putting troops into Libya is still warming up. Have a few weeks yet.

    Question is if we’ll go big or be happy with partitioning it up. I’m sure these canny rebels can be trusted to behave well in Tripoli if we decide to go big. Of course, any genocide there would just be karma for the moralists here.

  5. 5.

    pragmatism

    March 30, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    i feel your pain on the vet bills. came home from a ski trip on sunday and our dogsitter fertilized their yard over the weekend which one of our dogs ingested. we were lucky that she survived and luckier that the bill was only $700.

  6. 6.

    eemom

    March 30, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    the Q poll thingie says Obama’s ratings are lower than they’ve ever been. I don’t know if they’re a reliable pollster or not. Anyway I think polls are bullshit, especially cause no one’s ever asked me to be in one.

  7. 7.

    Joe Beese

    March 30, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    Anyone who predicted in 2008 that Obama and Clinton would soon join hands to launch a new foray into Libya without consulting Congress would have quickly been dismissed as a conspiracy theorist and delusional crank. But now, it’s as if the 2008 election never happened. And the fact that once again we’re launching bombs at an oil-rich country doesn’t seem to phase the same people who were horrified at Bush’s interventionism. It’s apparently okay now that “our team” has given it kinder, gentler messaging and some snazzy new skins. It apparently wasn’t nation-building, regime change and war-for-oil that liberals opposed. Just the fact that George Bush was the one doing it.

    Guess who?

  8. 8.

    Failure, Inc.

    March 30, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Our CEO is starting to show overt signs of Alzheimers. Not the gentle, forgetful kind, either.

    The violently lashing about rage kind.

    Not good.

  9. 9.

    Linda Featheringill

    March 30, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    Oh my gosh! It’s snowing again! It’s been, what, 2 or 3 weeks? I thought we were through with that stuff. Arghhh!

    Big, fat, fluffy flakes that are pretty, I must admit. Maybe it won’t stick.

  10. 10.

    Bob Loblaw

    March 30, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    Just another reason why being the first black President in a white supremacist nation really sucks:

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/30/most-americans-think-obama-does-not-deserve-re-election-according-to-new-poll/

    Poor guy can’t even get a war bump.

    Also, why is Nick now posting as OzoneR? Does he think he’s passing?

  11. 11.

    freelancer

    March 30, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    Jesus. I don’t partake anymore, really, but if ever a man needed a prescription for weed, it’s you, Cole. ‘kinnel.

  12. 12.

    FoxinSocks

    March 30, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    Could be worse. In the last two months, the vet thought my cat had cancer (she didn’t), she just had very aggressive stomatitis and hypothyroidism. Then my beagle had a seizure. Then my foster cat had some weird illness straight out of a vet-themed episode of House, but we got that finally figured out. Oh, and then last week my Rottweiler vomited blood all over the house.

    By some miracle, all my pets are now doing fine (including the Rottie). I am, however, selling organs to pay off the vet bills. Anybody want a kidney?

  13. 13.

    cleek

    March 30, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    i’d just like to echo the consensus that Obama sucks and is ruining this horrible country.

  14. 14.

    beltane

    March 30, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    @eemom: People are pissed about food and gas prices. All I hear at my kids’ sporting events is parents complaining about food prices. No one is very happy right now.

  15. 15.

    Mary G

    March 30, 2011 at 3:16 pm

    I am swamped too. It’s supposed to turn into summer tomorrow here in So California, 80 degrees, and I will be stuck at my desk.

    My cat, Sophie is acting strangely; she keeps coming up and poking me even though she has fresh baby food in her dish, two water fountains and a newly clean litter pan. She is also yowling a lot more than she ever has. She does it only when she’s alone in a room, sounds like she’s talking to herself. For years she’s done it only at night when we are asleep, now she does it all day long. Ii made an appointment at the vet last week, then chickened out. I don’t know if I can bear to hear bad news. My head knows it’s coming sooner rather than later because she’s about 21 years old, but she is my comfort and companion. Yes, I know there are plenty more pets in the shelters, but it’s not the same.

  16. 16.

    elmo

    March 30, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    @FoxinSocks:

    I am within $300 of finally paying off a massive, massive vet bill that we incurred last year trying to keep a rescue puppy alive. About two months ago, one of my rescue dogs — who had always been extremely neurotic — finally had to be put down. So my partner, in an entirely expected fit of grief, pulled a baby rat terrier mix from the shelter on its last day.

    Three days later (on a Sunday), we were rushing the baby to the emergency vet with classic signs of parvo. Confirmed. Two days in the doggy ICU, and the pup comes home fine.

    Two days later, one of our other rescues — who had been vaccinated — pops with parvo as well.

    I am never, never, never going to get out from under my vet bills.

  17. 17.

    Waratah

    March 30, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    John, can you call the Vet and ask if you can just pick up a prescription? If not, can you ask for refills on the next one? I want to add that I ask my daughter this every time she has to take her pets to Vet for allergies but she loves to spend my money.

  18. 18.

    Linda Featheringill

    March 30, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    @Mary G:

    Ah, Sophie.

    But we don’t know what she is experiencing in her world. Maybe she is frightened and lonely. Poor baby.

    Speaking of weed, does Sophie like nip?

  19. 19.

    Genine

    March 30, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    Hang in there, John. I’m sending good mojo your way.

  20. 20.

    Danton

    March 30, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    Fifty bucks? Be thankful, John I just spent $700 on a kitten from a shelter that had to be spayed, given her shots, and then put on an IV for three days when she developed a serious upper respiratory infection. And I put out $97 on the black Lab yesterday, who ate something weird and developed colitis.

  21. 21.

    Graeme

    March 30, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Get rid of that dog, already.

  22. 22.

    FoxinSocks

    March 30, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    @Elmo,

    You’re a saint! Did both dogs survive? I wasn’t quite sure when I read your story. Either way, you’re amazing.

  23. 23.

    Tim, Interrupted

    March 30, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    John, from time to time you post how stressed you are without saying WHY?

    So…WHY?

    BTW…talk/cognitive/behavioral therapy is awesome.

  24. 24.

    Bulworth

    March 30, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    Poor Rosie. Feel better.

  25. 25.

    dave

    March 30, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    Heck I’ll add mine too. I’m just back from an 8 week layoff but I have nothing to do, my wife is a 50 something teacher in Wisconsin and is wondering if she’ll even have a job even at a 10% reduction in salary. Oh, kids need $9000 for braces.

  26. 26.

    cckids

    March 30, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    Yeah, vet bills are the only reason I do not have more animals. (3 cats + 1 dog right now) Just dropped $200 on my fat cat, Olivander, who was having, ahem, “digestive issues”, leading to quite the mess in & out of the litter box. The vet wanted to do x-rays, massive blood tests, etc., to rule out. . .well, anything and everything. Bill was going to be $900. I politely declined & asked what they mostly NEEDED to do. Meds for 2 weeks & he is fine. (he never seemed that sick, just the diarrhea, so I was not inclined to panic). Critters. I hope you & Rosie get thru this easily.

  27. 27.

    Linda Featheringill

    March 30, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    @Tim, Interrupted:

    Talk therapy can be wonderful. Supportive. Highly recommended by all the cool kids.

    :-)

  28. 28.

    Linda Featheringill

    March 30, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    @dave:

    Hugs. [[ ]]

    Good luck.

  29. 29.

    Glenn

    March 30, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    John,

    For what it’s worth the Pittsburgh Veterinary Ophthalmology Clinic () is a great resource located about 10 miles north of Pittsburgh right off of I-79. They’ve seen my hoary lab several times with great albeit expensive results.

    Did you know that dogs have three sets of eyelids? All hail our alien overlords.

    Good luck w/Rosie, try to chill and keep the faith.

  30. 30.

    Mikeg

    March 30, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    jeebusfckingcrise. Just returned from a $300 vet trip (annual, lyme vaccine, xrays, sedation, and “miscellaneous”) Our lhasalier (half lhaso, half cavalier king charles) appears to have botched her back-left ACL. Doc says surgery “should be” between $1500-$2000. Are they fcking serious? Anyone out there have this kind of surgery performed on their dog? God that sounds high.

  31. 31.

    Glenn

    March 30, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    John,

    For what it’s worth the Pittsburgh Veterinary Ophthalmology Clinic is a great resource located about 10 miles north of Pittsburgh right off of I-79. They’ve seen my hoary lab several times with great albeit expensive results.

    Did you know that dogs have three sets of eyelids? All hail our alien overlords.

    Good luck w/Rosie, try to chill and keep the faith.

  32. 32.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    March 30, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    I’m strongly leaning in favor of canceling the surgery I had planned for late April; even if my Gi Bill benefits continue, blowing through my savings for surgery whilst the crazy fuckwads shutdown the government…gives me massive amounts of stress.

  33. 33.

    Crusty Dem

    March 30, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    At the risk of being thatguy, can I suggest Vet insurance (this is where I’d insert a link) to anyone? We’ve had pretty good luck with it, it’s not that expensive, and I haven’t heard a single complaint about death panels…

  34. 34.

    Katherine

    March 30, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    @29 Mikeg

    My, now deceased, yellow lab had surgery for a torn ACL about 3 years ago and it cost about $3800.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    March 30, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    Over a year ago, I spent an entire day researching pet insurance. There was a clear winner: PetPlan

    I was going to link to their website but it’s down at the moment. I have been very happy with the process of filing a claim, their approval process (they have approved everything I hoped/expected them to) and the speed of check receipt (within a week of filing each claim).

    in case you want to check it out tomorrow: gopetplan.com

  36. 36.

    Paul in KY

    March 31, 2011 at 9:38 am

    @elmo: Sometimes you have to let them go. The pet would never want you to go to the poor house on their behalf.

  37. 37.

    Crusty Dem

    March 31, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s who I was going to link to if anyone was interested. We haven’t had to make a claim yet (woot!), but have had many friends who did and gave them a major thumbs up.

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