Backlash

Ok. So it was a really bad joke. I still love telling it because the expressions you get are priceless. There are a few people that I know that still don't get it.

Ok, here's one to go along with the bar joke. Two guys walk into a bar. The third one ducked...

I'll second that! The best part is that I have daytime running lights on the car...I don't even have to think about it On a side note, I just hope that everybody here actually votes this November and encourages everyone they know to go wout and vote. I really don't care who you vote for as long as you vote. (And if you're torn between Kerry and Nader, I would encourage you to vote for Nader ) I've talked to too many people that just whine about how bad the president is and when I ask them if they voted in the last election, out comes the big "No." If you ask me, you have no right to complain about the elected president if you didn't take the time to actually go vote.

I sure hope all of this is going to clear up soon. We are going on a cruise the first week of October. I'm beginning to think the only thing we'll see is driftwood... I really feel sorry for all of the people down there. If I could afford a couple of months off, I would go down and help with the clean-up. I work for a utility company, and I've heard that they are sending some crews down to help restore power. I'd be willing to go, but I don't think they have any use for a GIS (mapping) specialist.

As much as I dislike the Irish, I was happy to see that they beat Michigan. Being raised a Hawkeye, I really enjoy it when ANYBODY beats Michigan...and Michigan State...and Illinois...and, well you get the picture.

Ok, My wife now has a team set up. (I should probably tell her ) We should be good to go!

Welcome. I'm prettty new here too, but there are a lot of great people here. Like Smallie said, don't be afraid to jump in to a discussion. The people around here don't bite. (too hard.)

If people don't mind, I can set up a team with my wife's Yahoo! account. I've already rearranged my rankings, so I'll just set up the dummy team and not touch it. If this is okay with everyone, I can get it set up this afternoon.

Max is home now. I had to get out of the house on Friday to let the varnish on the floors dry, so Emily and I went to the vet to check on Max. The vet didn't see why we couldn't take him with us, so he got to come home. We all went to Iowa City to watch the game, and then to the in-laws. We started him in the pool on Sunday, but he did't really like it too much. He just kept going around in circles...go figure! Anyway, he seems to be lifting the hurt leg a little bit, but I can't tell if he is just getting stronger and standing up straighter on the other leg. I keep poking his leg with something sharp to see if he has any feeling, and there seems to be something there. He's been whining off and on, so I hope something is starting to hurt. One good thing came out of this though. Emily saw how happy Max got when he saw my friends dogs and her parents dog, and I get to bring a new friend home for Max to play with. I had called one of the breeder/trainers around here to see of he had experienced anything similar with one of his dogs, and inquired whether or not he was planning on having another litter this year. Yep, he had just bred two of his best dogs the weekend before. The toughest part of taking care of Max right now is to make sure he doesn't hurt his paw from dragging it around. He does a good job of keeping it clean, and we just bought some hunting boots to keep on in when we're outside. All in all, he's getting along pretty well, but it's going to be a long road to recovery. I just wish he did't have to miss hunting season this year. He's a generally happy dog, but you can really see it in his eyes when we're out in the field. Thanks for the concerns everyone, I really appreciate it.

Ok, I'm in. Might as well give this a whirl.

Thanks everybody. I'm feeling a lot better. The initial shock just made me feel like somebody kicked me in the nuts and punched me in the gut at the same time. The wife and I have decided to bring him home as soon as we can and are going to attempt some physical therapy for a couple of months and see how things go. The vet told us about one of his first patients, a dachund, that had back problems and couldn't walk. The owner filled up his bathtub every night and swam his dog in the tub. Luckily for us, we have a small lake 3 blocke from our house. The plans are to take him to the lake and get him swimming and then to keep masaging his shoulder and leg. Once again, thanks everybody. I really appreciate it.

Haven't been tying for a couple of days. I've been working on refinishing our floors. I might just kick back with a couple of suds tonight and start on some Christmas presents. Probably going to start with something easy like a pheasant tail, and see how it goes from there. (Probably depends on how many bottle caps are sitting on the bench too)

I didn't get to see the game either, but I wish I would have! 22-0 Chalk one up to Cleveland for handing the Yankees their hats.

My huntng buddy isn't going to make it out for pheasant season this year. Max was hit by a car last night right after I got home from work. My wife let the UPS man deliver a package, and Max decided to go for a run without her. We finally chased him down and almost had him coralled, and he took off the other direction. A woman driving down the road obviously missed me, my wife, and two other people standing on the road trying to catch a 90lb yellow lab. We took him to the vet and did some initial blood work, and there wasn't any internal damage. I got a call from the vet, and he said that he wished that he could tell me that there are some broken bones, but nothing wrong there either. I would feel a lot better, but he still doesn't have any use of one of his front legs. Dr. Bruce said that we can bring him home in a few days and hope that the nerve damage heals itself, but he's thinking Max is going to lose his leg up to his shoulder. Sorry about the rant, but I just had to let it out. Ever since 5:00 last night, I've felt like .

We're starting the weekend off by giong to the first football game of the season. (Go Hawks!) If you look at the avatar, (<==) Max will be dressed in his game attire. The wife and I will be dressed in similar attire. After the game, we have to go to her home town for her 10 year high school reunion. After that, I'm hoping to do a little fishing on Saturday and Sunday. Emily's dad found a nice little triutary that has some smallies hangin' out.