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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Labor Day Open Thread

Labor Day Open Thread

by John Cole|  September 3, 20186:18 pm| 50 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging

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Got out of the shower this morning, threw my towel on the bed as I sat down to lotion up the feet and throw some socks on, looked over and just laughed because I had not noticed how Lily was sleeping:

She’s totally into that pillow and just living her best life.

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Previous Post: « One Dragon at a Time
Next Post: Open Thread: For the Laborer Is Worthy of His Wages… »

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    Dawwwww. She just looks so comfy. ?

    I am currently laying down with a cardboard box over my postsurgical knee to discourage the cats from jumping on it. G just pointed put that this ploy will only work until they start trying to figure out what it is I’m hiding under the box.

    Otherwise, recovery continues apace. With my doctor’s permission, I stopped the opiates this morning and started taking Aleve instead. They did at least choose an opiate that didn’t make me immediately sick, but it also wasn’t great for pain relief, so there was no point in continuing to take it.

  2. 2.

    ruemara

    September 3, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    Lily looks like I want to feel. Nap ready & adorable.

  3. 3.

    ruemara

    September 3, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I hope the surgery is 100% effective and the the recovery is swift.

  4. 4.

    A Ghost To Most

    September 3, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    Good luck with the knee.
    Beware the opiates.

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    September 3, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @Mnemosyne: A speedy recovery and may you continue to confuse the cats.

  6. 6.

    J R in WV

    September 3, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    Happy Labor Day, fellow Jackals!! We have all worked, hard, as long as possible. I retired early which was possible because I started working early! I would have had to file for disability if I hadn’t retired, actually.

    @Mnemosyne:

    Congrats on your surgery happening, and your doctors helping you while paying attention to your specific needs. Wife had shoulder surgery, and was “combative” in recovery from that — we inform doctors of that before any encounter, no one wants a combative patient in the OR or in recovery!

  7. 7.

    catclub

    September 3, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    that this ploy will only work until they start trying

    don’t cats hate aluminum foil? great fashion look, also.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    September 3, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Hope all goes well ?

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    September 3, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    @catclub:

    don’t cats hate aluminum foil?

    Not when scrunched into a ball with some tantalizing scrunching sounds, then rolled across the kitchen floor. Cheapest cat toy ever.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    September 3, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    Cole,
    Lily looks so precious ?

  11. 11.

    John Cole

    September 3, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I am currently laying down with a cardboard box over my postsurgical knee to discourage the cats from jumping on it

    I hate to be the one to break it to you about your cardboard box theory, but have you ever owned a cat before?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbiedguhyvM

  12. 12.

    Steeplejack

    September 3, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Aleve rocks! It is the only thing I have in my medicine cabinet. Except for expired DayQuil. Discovered that when I had the mother of all colds a month or so ago. Also, my Aleve was expired too, but I don’t think it goes bad.

  13. 13.

    catclub

    September 3, 2018 at 6:53 pm

    @John Cole: Maru? Just guessing here.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 3, 2018 at 6:54 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m sorry, WHUT now? You’re using cardboard boxes to keep cats away??

    I very much fear you were absent the day they gave the lecture on Cats and Cardboard Boxes: The Irresistible Magnetic Attraction.

  15. 15.

    satby

    September 3, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    I don’t like to blog but a Lily thread seems appropriate. We got a dog relinquished to our rescue by her owner, a homeless lady, when during the day we arranged it was discovered the dog has a mammary tumor. It’s a small goal, but we could use the help for Miss Clarabelle.

    We’re doing about 20-25 spay/neuter per month and that exhausts our funds continually. So we’re always fundraising. I’ll match donations with some gift soaps as a thank you.

  16. 16.

    satby

    September 3, 2018 at 6:59 pm

    Bleg… during the spay we arranged…

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    September 3, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Happy Labor Day to you!

    I retired (slightly) early because of personal misfortune, ageism and, okay, a bad career move here and there. But I put in a solid 40 years doing my bit as a cog in the awesome machine that is American capitalism. *Cough*

    Bro’ Man had me laughing a few months ago because I was trying to encapsulate my varied and checkered career and he said, “If anyone asks—which they won’t—just tell them you had a long career as a legitimate businessman.” If it works for Mafia dons and Better Call Saul . . .

  18. 18.

    satby

    September 3, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @Mnemosyne: @Steeplejack: Naproxen (Aleve) worked better than anything else when I had the ruptured tendons in both shoulders. I really depend on it for musculoskeletal pain.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @ruemara:

    So far, so good. The actual doctors seem to have done a good job, but we’re a little annoyed with the discharge staff. They rushed us out of there before G could ask any questions and he spent 2-1/2 hours tracking down all of the prescriptions at four (4) CVS’s. ?

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Opiates make me puke at fairly low doses, so no worries there. I abandon them as quickly as I’m allowed to, medically speaking.

    @WereBear:

    Keaton and Charlotte both had to come in for an hour or two of snuggles yesterday. They both got very stressed out by not getting to see me for almost two whole days and having me be super cranky when they did see me.

  20. 20.

    Geeno

    September 3, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    She is just the sweetest pupper.

  21. 21.

    Roy Greene

    September 3, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    Mr. Cole

    Lily was our golden retrievers name, a great dog, like your beautiful lily she wouldn’t harm a fly. Your lily is a great dog. I want to thank you for creating this blog. The community that writes and follows your blog are a testament to people who care about first of all dogs, cats and animals in general, humanity and politics. I am a avid reader and have been for many years. Again thank you

    Roy Greene
    Rattlemullet

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Except for expired DayQuil.

    DayQuil and NyQuil are at their funkiest best once they’re left to ponder things and ferment for a few months. I routinely reach for last year’s bottles, and lay down a new supply each November as if the ‘Quil were the finest, most delicate Port.

  23. 23.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @J R in WV:

    It seemed like they took me a lot more seriously when I told them I had actually puked ON a physical therapist in the recovery room last time. I guess that was the signal that I wasn’t just being whiny.

    @John Cole:

    It was a desperation move since the box was within arm’s reach, but it’s actually been working. I guess the strangeness of me having an upside-down box on my knee is making them wary so far.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @J R in WV:
    This won’t mean anything to younger people but I had a SSN at 13, because I was working. I’m 69 and still working. 56 yrs of work and while I’m well past the concept of retiring, I’m still recovering from the recession so that I can retire. If I last that long.

  25. 25.

    satby

    September 3, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @Roy Greene: welcome! We love it when lurkers finally join in!

  26. 26.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 3, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Just come back from my 6 weeks post total hip replacement assessment and my consultant has cleared me for full weight bearing on the operated hip (left). His words, “get back to your normal life as soon as you can.” Hurrah!!!!!! Now all I have to do is get some strength back into the muscles and re-learn how to walk normally.

    Also he’s issued me with a card to show airport security as I now face a future of setting off alarms when going through the scanner.

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    @satby:

    I once had a bad reaction to Aleve when it first went on the market, so I usually stick to ibuprofen. The doc said “naproxen,” though, so I went with it. So far, no problems.

  28. 28.

    satby

    September 3, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    @Sloane Ranger: Congratulations! You considering changing your nym to Bionic Ranger now?

  29. 29.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    @Ruckus:
    Do have to say that the recession gave me a year of “vacation” when I built two sliding gates a 16′ and a 20′, did a bit of sanitary plumbing, gardening disposal (a very full rolloff containers worth). Best vacation, never.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @Ruckus:

    For once, I can beat you — I started paying into SS when I was 11, because, when I was on summer break, my dad preferred to pay me minimum wage to work at his office for a few hours a week than to pay me an allowance, and he did everything above board by putting me on the payroll and paying taxes on me.

    It wasn’t anything too exciting — typing envelopes and filing. But I got paid to do it!

  31. 31.

    Steeplejack

    September 3, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    A few months? My DayQuil was expired by years, like 2012.

    I did find a variant with a stupid Brawndo-like name—DayQuil Severe, I think—that was amazeballs. That is my go-to for the future.

  32. 32.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:
    I used to know a lot of sports guys who carried their x-rays with them for the airport nazis. They had so many rods and screws that they’d set off the machines standing in line.

  33. 33.

    Shell

    September 3, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    but it also wasn’t great for pain relief

    Except for Percoset, Ive never found opioids much use for the actual pain.
    *************

    Awww, and I was just thinking there hasnt been a Lily pic in a while.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    G is pretty sure that the guy in the same jury pool who was a “freelancer in the field of lending” was actually a loan shark. That made sense to me. ?

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Now you have the fun part of physical therapy where you have to work twice as hard to make 5 percent as much gain as you did before. But that’s how it works, unfortunately.

    As instructed, I’ve already started doing some heel slides, leg lifts, and quad crunches. Formal PT starts on Wednesday.

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 7:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I figured someone would have started younger, didn’t expect you. It of course used to be far more common, we had a fella from Louisiana working for us who quit school in the 4th grade to go to work to support his mom. You might guess his skin tone. He’s been a role model for me for decades. Another fella and I taught him trigonometry in about 2 months. Had to bring him up to par on multiply/divide first, but he got it.
    A lot of people aren’t stupid but they can lack good or even much education because of our countries racism.

  37. 37.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 3, 2018 at 7:47 pm

    @satby: It’s an idea. Let me sleep on it!

  38. 38.

    catclub

    September 3, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    @Shell:

    Except for Percoset, Ive never found opioids much use for the actual pain.

    I like vike – vicodin was the happy pill with a broken collarbone.

  39. 39.

    Steeplejack

    September 3, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    No argument here.

    I am always reminded of a great bit Jon Stewart did about the Canadian Mafia, where the dons had names like Tim “Just a Guy” Macdonald and Bob “Sounds Good to Me” Harrison.

  40. 40.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 3, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, I already do lying and standing ezercises three times a day, now step exercises have been added to the regimen. See the physio again on 20th.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I definitely wasn’t full-time and I didn’t have to drop out of school, but my dad thought it was better than an allowance, and he was probably right. There have been a few times in my life when I haven’t had a job, and those times have been unpleasant for everyone.

    I think the difference is between being able to choose to continue working and being forced to continue working. I may choose to keep doing some kind of paying work when I get to retirement age, but I will most likely have the privilege of picking and choosing what I want to do.

  42. 42.

    MoxieM

    September 3, 2018 at 8:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m on Diclofenac, it’s an Rx NSAID, but oddly it bothers my innards less than Aleve. I was doing 800 MG of Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) 3x/day, but eventually that got harsh as well, even though I take any of them with a stomach acid reducer. The Diclofenac Rx I currently have is enteric coated as well, and I find if I take one first thing AM, and one just after dinner, each time with and acid reducer, they help a little. Good luck to you (and all Jackals with replacement parts or otherwise in pain.) I hope you have smooth healing.

    Oh, and Lily belongs on the cover of Bark! magazine.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    September 3, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @catclub:

    Just to show that everyone’s chemistry is different, vicodin caused uncontrollable vomiting for me. That was … not fun. Especially since I was on crutches at 4 am the day after my surgery trying not to miss the toilet. ?

  44. 44.

    oatler.

    September 3, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    My sister’s terrier will reshape my sofa cushions into a shape that couldn’t have been done with a hydraulic press.

  45. 45.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I’m not sure I have to work any longer but I’d like to be able to retire and for a few years do a little traveling, maybe take the trans Canada train and then down to DC to see the Smithsonian and the Wall, Lincoln’s statue, etc. As it is I’m working 8 a day and it is the same kind of actual work I did for decades, moving metal to make stuff. You have a decent job with probably a decent retirement situation and that makes a huge difference when you get to this stage. I’d planned that if the bicycle shop was successful I’d close/sell it when I turned 70 and retire. I’m on schedule so far to retire at 71 and so not as far off as I make it sound, less than 2 years, with just a minor hiccup in the middle if you want to call it that.

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    September 3, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    McDonalds did that to me. Twice. Slow learner. Food poisoning. Made Linda Blair look like an amateur.
    First time I was working an event 5 states from home, so the rest of that day and the next 3 were spent in a hotel room.
    At least I learned never to eat at McDs again.

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    September 3, 2018 at 8:52 pm

    @MoxieM:

    Hey! Bark is for the rough trade. Dog Fancy, if you please.

    Oops, died in 2015. Maybe Modern Dog or Dogster, then.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    September 3, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    Lily is a princess on paisley. What a sweet girl. We’re all so lucky she is still with us.

  49. 49.

    MoxieM

    September 3, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    @Steeplejack: I guess I have to confess I don’t read dog Magazines … and Bark! was all I could think of. Rough trade, you say?

  50. 50.

    texasdoc

    September 3, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @Spanky: I had a calico cat who would pick up her scrunched aluminum ball in her mouth, jump into the bathtub, and then lie on the drain end, where she would bat the ball to the other end of the tub and just wait for it to roll back to her so she could do it again and again and again. That all ended one night when my roommate put some water into the tube to see if it was leaking–the cat jumped in, and was promptly seen streaking, soaking wet, through the dining room.

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