About a week ago Dobby the Dog decided to partake of whatever was in some garbage bags that Denis left by our sliding glass doors in the kitchen. The kids were home, and Dobby behaved himself while CootieGirl was in the other room. But she left to go to work and he thought he was alone (CootieBoy was upstairs in his room) so he dived right in.
When CB came downstairs he found the mess (and had to clean it up), and I told him to keep an eye on Dobby to make sure he didn’t eat anything he shouldn’t have (although he almost definitely did because that’s what dogs do).
Dobby was fine that day, and the next, but then four days ago he was sitting with us in the TV room and suddenly hurled. Gross. I figured that was the last of it, and punishment enough for his misdeed. But then three days ago he ended up having major diarrhea. That corrected itself quickly, so there was no need to put him on a special diet of chicken and pumpkin, as we’ve done in the past. But then yesterday afternoon the kids called to alert me to the fact that he had thrown up again in the TV room. Then last night I was awakened at 3:15 a.m. to the dulcet tones of him throwing up just a few feet away from where I slept. I cleaned it up, took him downstairs to let him out and see how his temperament was (it was fine) and then went back to bed. About an hour later he threw up again.  And then again an hour later.
And through it all his temperament has been fine – still chirpy, tail wagging, running around. If there was lethargy involved I’d be more worried. Even so, I did not feed him breakfast this morning just to make sure his stomach remained empty today. As I left for work I advised the kids to keep an eye on him and if he shows signs of lethargy or continues to throw up despite the empty stomach, they are to call me and I’ll come home from work and immediately take him to the vet to see what’s going on.
And while I’m not heartless, I did tell Denis this morning that if we have to get x-rays done and they tell me that it requires a $2-5K surgery because he’s eaten something that is blocking his system and can’t be, um, eliminated naturally, I will tell them to put down the dog. I know that makes me sound awful. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE that dog. Everyone knows how much I love and adore that dog. In many ways, he’s the best dog I’ve ever had, even despite his emotional issues. But I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars on a dog that is already 10-11 years old. If he was five years old? Absolutely. But at this point Dobby is heading into “elderly” status even if he is still spry like a puppy. And I will rest easy knowing that for the past 5 years he has had the most amazing life with our family and that I gave him more love than he ever had in the first 5-6 years of his life.
But let’s pray it does NOT come to that. Let’s pray that whatever the issue was is now resolved and he’s back to normal.
In other news, a couple days ago Denis went to the dentist for a crown repair and as he headed back to work he was sideswiped by another driver. Fortunately, no one was injured (despite the other driver forcing Denis into a fishtail into the shoulder of the highway), but in a perverse twist of fate, DENIS is the one that got the ticket even though the other driver came into Denis’s lane and hit HIM. Since Denis was considered the “rear” car in the incident, the NC laws state that he was the one responsible for avoiding the accident. It’s insane to me that in a case where there was clearly a guilty party (i.e., the other driver who proceeded to say to Denis, “Oh man, am I gonna get a ticket for this?” when he got out of his car), it’s the innocent guy that gets the ticket.
He’ll fight it in court though, and we’ve asked our insurance company to provide a certified letter absolving Denis of blame from their perspective. The patrolman who did the write-up of the incident said that if Denis brings that document to traffic court the judge will dismiss the ticket and it won’t go on Denis’s driving record. That’s what we’re counting on.
And his is not the only car issue. My car over the past few months has been acting strangely. I figured it was a fuel injection issue (repairs for which can either be as low as $50 or as high as $1500) and took it to my shop last month but they couldn’t find anything. They swapped out a couple spark plugs and changed the decarb kit, but a week later the issue popped up again. Last weekend I finally took it to another shop for a 2nd opinion and they determined that was was likely a computer system communication issue, but not one that will jeopardize the operation of my vehicle. He said the issue will not leave me stranded on the side of a road with an inoperable vehicle. The repair was $150, but he told me not to worry about it since the issue only happens when I drive 70 mph or more. During my commutes to/from work I rarely get above 60 mph, so the only time it happens is when I’m on I-485 heading to the next town over. The shop said if the issue ever starts happening when I’m driving 40-50 mph during my commute, then I can come in and they’ll do the repair for me.
So that has been our week thus far. How has yours been?
