Life as a Spectator Sport

If people can cat-blog and orchid-blog, then I can dog-blog.

I finally broke down and had the refrigerant replaced in the Daewoo's air conditioner, not for my comfort but for Rippy's. Clarence is in the hospital for what was suspected to be a broken elbow but turned out to be his gout showing up in another joint. I thought I'd take advantage of that to get as many stores inspected as possible without having to take him along, so Rippy and I set off for Richmond.

We left early, but it's a five hour drive to Richmond, and he was so heat-stressed that he was wheezing by the time I finished the second inspection in the middle of the afternoon. I couldn't find shaded places to park, and without Clarence along, I had no choice but to leave him by himself in the car. All windows open, of course, and plenty of water to drink, but in 89 degree temperatures, that's not enough. Even at highway speeds with all the windows wide open, he was constantly panting. I couldn't bear the misery I was inflicting on him. I finally stopped at a convenience store and bought the largest bag of ice they had, and just laid it on the back seat, hoping he would figure out to lie down on it.

He went one better than that, as the picture below demonstrates. He was smart enough to put his head down on it, keeping his jugulars on the ice and cooling the blood going to his brain. But he was still miserable. So when I went past a Jiffy Lube today with an "A/C recharge" banner on the front, I stopped and told them to "just make it work, whatever it costs."




I meant to go on home after finishing the Richmond stores, but I also had some Tidewater stores to inspect, and decided to run on down to Greg and Carol's house. They have two dogs, and Carol's parents were there, as it turned out, with their little Pomeranian. So we thought we'd try to get them all in one pictures.

Two dogs




Three dogs




Four dogs!




The Pomeranian is CoCo, the large yellow lab is Max and the medium-sized black lab mix is Trouble. And there are Greg's legs and feet.

We decided not to try to get the cats in the picture as well.

The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section

This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here.

RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email to liz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002