Critter’s Krib

while the sight of a snake devouring a rat is not a sight a lot of people enjoy seeing. but, i have to say, it totally amazes me everytime i see it. the fact the snake can unhinge it’s jaws, and stretch it’s body to accommodate the food. too cool!

i had a tivo a few years ago. in an attempt to clear up it’s sluggishness, i did the “reset this damn thing” thing.
iirc, it displayed something on the screen along the lines of “pleae be patient, this could
take several hours”. i let it run for two weeks. when i phoned tivo customer service i was advised to send it in, and they would fix it
for a paltry $150. i might as well just buy a new one. today i did. there were two different “versions” available. a 40 hour and a 80 hour one.
i chose the 40 hour model, knowing i can always add a second harddrive. the price on it was $199 with a $150 mail-in rebate. you can’t beat that!

so.. i found out that tivo does not support vonage or any
voip service. while attempting to set it up, the tivo
has to use the phone line to dial in and download all the programs. according to the setup screen, the download should only
take 10-20 minutes, but over the vonage line, it kept getting interruptions and had to start over. it was, to say the least,
annoying as hell!! i ended up taking the box over to kate’s house to use her land line for the dial in. it finished the
download quickly enough, but the box needs 6-8 hours to process all the information… so i can’t muck around with it until
after i pick up the box tomorrow morning!

i am totally excited about the ability to download the episodes from the box to my computer over my network! suh-wheet!

i’m always on the lookout for a decent calendaring application. outlook does a decent job, i just, very much, dislike the bloatedness of the
program. there is also the sunbird project, which is available as a
firefox extention or a standalone program. it’s a decent enough program, but it is still in it’s infancy, imo.
i would prefer to have an online solution that can be accessible from where ever i have a connection. i had been using
calendarhub for a while (i believe, it is finally out of beta, and open to the public). it is
decent enough, but just didn’t cut the bill for me. yesterday in the #coldfusion irc
channel, someone passed along the link to hipcal. i had a quick look at it last nite, and so far so good.
the interface is easy to use. the sms reminders that i setup were sent to my phone at the correct times. you can import contacts from several
email applications, including gmail and yahoo.

if you are interested in an online calendar solution… i would definitely give it a gander.

i just do not understand how a parent can do such harm to their own children. i have gotten upset with talon before, but nothing that would|could ever
cause me to harm him. i just don’t get it.

and as if the titled article itself isn’t bad enough.. look at the related articles.. it is fucking ridiculous. society is on a downward spiral and we
are nearing the end of days. i tell ya’ the end of days are near.

so far so good. i was worried that when i stopped watching my carb intake, that i would start to put weight back on.
luckily that has not been the case. of course, i cannot attribute it to luck. i have been paranoid about keeping
track of my caloric intake. i do not eat anything that i cannot get nutritional information from. it’s not too bad,
but in the evenings i do miss eating a large steak. most of
my portions have been reduced to a 4 oz tiny portion.

i have been diligent with my working out, and can definitely see changes in my body. i have a ton of jeans that
sit sloppy, even on my hips. my love handles are fading away. i would be happy with losing just another 5 lbs,
which would cover the last remains of my beer belly!

oh sweet thin times!
ps. i know i spelled the title incorrectly

the above statement is sort of true as it relates to me. i do love feeddemon, i have yet
to have a play with version 2. the screenshots that have been posted over the last week or so, look great though! i cannot
wait to try the new version.

besides.. my use of the name critter is legal i just thought it was funny the way it appeared on goog.

this looks like it would be a riot to actually do! i would attempt it, but i never get solicitation calls,
only bill collectors. guess i could try it on them ha!

click the image to get a full pdf version

we brought him home from the doctor’s to be with us. just their “monitored” care alone, would have easily reached $1,000 by monday, before they would be able to run any tests and do an mri. his condition did deteriorate rather rapidly, with repeated seizures and labored breathing. i rang up neal and jason around midnite. neal went with me to the hospital while jason stayed at the house to watch talon. the doctors at the unc veterinary clinic, quickly assessed that he was having nuerological issues. his pupils had constricted, which led them to believe there was a possible swelling in the brain.

in his best interest, we had the mighty bear put to sleep at 1:30am. while he is no longer in pain, there is definitely an emptiness we all feel. i dreaded, even moreso, this morning when talon woke up and asked me where saporo was. he cried when i told him. today we will go and get some pictures, like the one above printed out, so that we can hang them in talon’s room so he can always remember and see “his buddy”

this morning when i let brandy out of the garage and into the pen she shared with saporo, she went over to the spot where he last was, then froze and just stared at me, for a long time. it was a very eery moment, almost as if she knew something wasn’t right.

since the unc vet school is just that, they will perform a necropsy free of charge, so at least we will find out what caused him to spiral so quickly.

Not sure what the problem is. He just kind of went lethargic ealy this morning (4am). We are at a specialist hospital with him now. I think the doctors about shit themselves when they saw his size. He is at least 150 lbs. It appears (IMO) to be some thing with his neck, but what do I know… Fingers crossed

Update:
the blood tests came back normal, so it doesn’t appear it is a toxin that is causing it. the doctor says he doesn’t want to rule out meningitis, but there is not much they can do until monday. he is home with us now. he is not doing well, but at least he is home. his condition is continuing to deteriorate. i hope he passes quickly. i hate to say it. if he continues to deteriorate, we will probably have to take him back tomorrow to be put to sleep. poor dog

holy crap i have to dust my desk, there is a lovely coat of silt. bah! perhaps, i’ll get to it tomorrow. yes that’s it, i will put it
on my list for things to put off do tomorrow..

my diet has been going pretty good. i had pretty much stalled out on watching carbs, now that i am keeping a close eye on my calorie
and fat intake, my weight seems to be dropping again (which is good).

i just watched the pilot for four kings. it is a new sitcom with seth green. a few funny moments, but i really don’t
see it making too long a run.

jill is doing great. her appetite is returning! now that the bandage is off of her tail, it just looks yucky,
but definitely better than it did before. she is due for another shot in the morning.

we had a birthday party to go to this eveing… or so we thought! the email invitation said friday, turns out it is saturday.
no big deal… while we were there, talon bowled a couple games. he had fun, and that’s all that matters. after that we stopped by
salvio’s for a couple slices. i really <3 their margarita
pizza. it f*ckin rocks!! i was so looking forward to it, but when we got there, they didn’t have any slices available.. so a simple cheese had to do the job! the slices
are super big and talon loves them. he did a good job eating his this evening.

i remember when i was a little kid, looking forward to the weekends so that i could stay up late. of course, late for me.. was probably 9pm lol. talon looks forward to the
weekends just as much as i did. he usually passes out on the couch around 10-11pm, sometimes a bit earlier. tonite we watched
the happy elf for the gazillionth time!! and now i have that stupid song in my head.

ah well, i have rambled enough, and if you have read this far… you must be as bored as i am. i’m off to do my workout.. and then i have work to do… later.