War had been raging against the gremlins attempting to ruin my week. By Thursday afternoon, the enemy had been vanquished.
The air conditioner in my car died, but according to my warranty tome, I'm covered.
My awesome little car's first booboo.
A room, at my dentist's office, should be named in my honor. After weeks of return visits, so many anesthesia laden needles jabbed into my gums that my brain began to feel numb, I was prepared on Thursday afternoon to receive the news that I needed a root canal. Who needs money, right?
Instead, the dentist tells me all the work done in the past month is solid, the throbbing pain in my mouth is from sensitivity at the gum line-- no root canal, no crown, no cavity...no charge! X-rays, two tubes of fluorine treatment--free. I staggered out of the office, incredulous. Kapow, dental demons!
Being self-employed, lunch is what I can inhale during the commute between clients. Running an errand had better take no more than 10 minutes. Time when I'm not working-- I'm not earning. The evil accountant living in my head keeps tally of wasted minutes when I'm on the clock.
Since Cole's first surgery, I've spent a lot of time running back to the house for his potty breaks, taking him for appointments and recently, driving three times a week to physiotherapy. Over an hour each day of lost income that I have to makeup in the evenings or on weekends. My enthusiasm was waning this week.
I carved out one hour on Wednesday to watch how he had progressed in rehab = renewed hope.
Cole's muscled up so quickly that he's now permitted long walks.
Does anyone know if there's a bottom to the pit of energy a young Lab possesses? I really would like to find it.
Sadie, docked on her charger.
To her credit, this guest dog has upped my running frequency this week. She needs 3 miles/day to allow us to sleep at night! But, this is what results if you ignore a sharp pain in your foot for 5 miles.
One toenail fell off and attacked the neighboring toe. Spy vs. spy in my sock.
Another battle was fought against two local retailers. One should never mess with my food or that of my dogs'. My love affair with Earth Fare natural food market has soured. They have decided to stop carrying the Working Cows Dairy products because they sell out too quickly. It's a family operation, not a factory run amalgamation of farms, they can't double production overnight! So, if you're the only store in town carrying a sought after niche product, you should drop it like a hot potato, who's the brilliant MBA who cooked that one up?
The organic farm is only two hours away, I went there last year to meet the family and gaze upon their 48 stall carrousel milking parlor. Food provenance is very important to me. If I can't produce it or hunt it, I want to make sure that whoever is, is doing so in a manner that parallels my philosophy on sustainable agriculture.
Wednesday night, I appealed to Rinske De Jong at Working Cow Dairy. In less than 24 hrs, I was picking up my 2 gallons from my new supplier, Wake Up artisanal coffee shop. Two local coffee shops are the only places now that use the milk within a 60 mile radius. It's a special arrangement...don't spread it around and ruin it for me please.
Bonus: I have discovered the best coffee in town. They make each cup individually, so it takes about 5 minutes, but it's the elixir of the gods. Wake Up is located on College St across from Samford Hall. The big hunks of homemade pastries are also sinfully good. Every Thursday now will be milk, coffee and pastry day!
Now for my scrimmage with the independently owned natural food store, the only local source for my dog food. I've been their faithful supporter for over 20 years. However, over the past year, staffing problems make it impossible to shop there under 20 minutes. I've left the queue a number of times when I've accrued $10 in lost wages. Business is business and I've taken mine somewhere else.
Within two days from placing an order with chewy.com, I'd received all my dog food supplies, cheaper than the local store's prices and with free shipping.
Cole and Sadie relished the Origen elk treats.
Dairy Animal Nutrition was my specialization in college. I applied that to the feeding of my three day old calves.
My goal was to build them bigger and stronger than average, without the use of hormone implants, feed additives or antibiotics.
2,000 lbs is the average. My boys are now almost 7 years old, strong, solid and above average in all respects.
Tommy tops the scale at 3,000 pounds.
I'm just as overzealous with canine nutrition.
Mavis was a month short of her 20th birthday before she had a stroke and died.
Cocotte was 20 when we had an unfortunate incident involving my dually.
So, as for Cole and Jinx, they eat a mix of Fromm's Gold (from Wisconsin, been there, seen it), Acana (a line of Origen from Canada, best quality high protein ration), Organix (organic line of Castor and Pollux) and Evanger's 100% meat canned foods. My conclusions, based on my research, are that a variety of balanced kibbles, with at least 5 different meat species sources, mixed with a tablespoon of canned food is the best option. Feeding only one brand of kibble year after year can lead to food allergies. Wouldn't you break out in hives if you had to eat chicken, chicken meal and pearl barley twice a day for 10 years?
Prepare to roll your eyes...I insist on knowing where every ingredient in the dog food originated. A dog food maker can claim that the food was made in the USA, even if the ingredients were imported. Technically, it's not a lie, the kibble was formed in the USA, but that's not satisfactory to me. China has been accused repeatedly of using the same factories that make leather, to make rawhide dog treats--- enter arsenic poisoning, an ingredient used to tan hides. Imported additives were to blame for the deaths linked to Beneful last year. Oh yeah, there was a quiet recall on Beneful last year. You probably didn't hear about it because dog food recall standards are not the same as for human food. Manufacturers can quietly pull their tainted products from the shelves without having to publicize it.
This is why I'm a member of dogfoodadvisor.com. They monitor all the dog food manufacturers, post any changes in the product sourcing and send out alerts about possible contaminations. Darn tootin' right I'm serious about what I put in my dogs' tummies!
The Kid and I have many more years of running to address!
