It isn't even Hump Day!

"I saw Live Camels in a Church Today" was one of my first postings and got buried among the many other postings I've written. So I thought, what the heck, a repeat camel story - just what all my reader's are craving for.

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Back on December 20^th I had no idea what I was going to do for Mary’s upcoming birthday. That night I went to a Christmas party held at the home of friends who attend our church. I was mingling and I heard a conversation about “The Boar’s Head Festival” and I butted in and asked what it was. Well by the end of the conversation I had purchased two tickets and started planning for Mary’s birthday surprise.

Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield held their first Boar’s Head Festival in January 1984, as an epiphany gift to the greater Springfield area and has continued to do so. This year is their 31^st festival. And, do they know how to throw one! If you go out to Trinity’s website you can read about the history of the festival where the boar was the first dish served at great Roman feasts, nearly two thousand years ago. And, yes folks, there is a Youtube clip from last year’s event which is worth viewing. But what intrigued me when I first heard about it was that they have live animals participating in the festival. And guess what? They have camels, three of them walking around in the church!

Camels have intrigued me from the first time I saw one as a young child when my parents took me to see “Lawrence of Arabia.” I love that loping walk of theirs. And, the cute way they move their mouths. Have you seen the Gieco commercial with the camel in it? What a hoot “hump day.” Oops, I digress. Back to the birthday surprise for Mary.

I created a puzzle that consisted of pictures of the festival and bits of information that I gathered off of Trinity’s webpage. I put each puzzle piece into an envelope. Mary’s birthday fell on a Sunday and we hosted coffee hour after the church service which worked out perfectly. I gave out the envelopes to individuals with the instructions to walk up to Mary when we were singing “Happy Birthday” and give her their envelope. She ended up with 14 envelopes, one cake and a large package. Inside the package were two tickets to the festival and one stuffed camel! He’s so adorable.

Well, today, Sunday, January 12, we went to our very first and hopefully not our last “Boars Head Festival.” The talent and logistical efforts involved was just unbelievable. And guess what? After the camels made their walk down the aisle, each with their own handler, they went into an alcove right next to our seats!  I was no more than ten feet away from three very adorable but large snorting creatures. When they first made their appearance, I was jumping up and down and clapping my hands, I was so excited because all through the performance I had been waiting for that very moment. I was so thrilled. I can now check off from my "Bucket List" the desire to see camels close up and in person. And, did I mention that I saw them walking down the aisle of a church! Oh by the way, Mary enjoyed her birthday present as much as I did!

Chloe and Thunderstorms!

Really who needs the National Weather Service? Poor Chloe; she knows at least an hour before a thunderstorm will hit. She starts panting, pacing, and making very sad whimpering sounds. In past storms, she would go into the bathroom that has the ceramic flooring and tries to dig a hole into the tile. She picks the same tile every single time. She moves the bathroom rug covering the tile before she starts digging. I've always thought that was very considerate of her.

The other night, Chloe changed her digging habit to crawling into Chancey’s crate and staying there during the storm. For you folks who don’t know our dogs, Chancey, a Scottish Terrier, weighs in at 26 lbs. so we picked a medium size crate for him. Chloe, a Eurasier, weighs around 62 lbs. Yet, she managed to get into Chancey’s crate turn herself around and flop down with her paws sticking out. The point is Chloe found a spot where she could feel safe while the storm was in full swing.

It is not unusual for dogs to be afraid of lighting and thunder. For Chloe, it’s much more than that. Chloe and her brother were abandoned in an isolated area in Northern Virginia when they were just a couple of months old in 2003. I can’t image how they survived, but they did and were rescued when they were about six months old. Somehow, maybe getting into someone’s chicken coop, Chloe was shot and injured. To this day, she still has the buckshot in her, but it has not caused her any health problems.

Unfortunately, Chloe reacts strongly to loud sounds such as drums, nail guns and fireworks, to list a few. The 4^th of July is not her favorite holiday.  One year, the fireworks were so loud I had to lie on top of her to calm her down. I talked and told her Chloe stories during the fireworks presentation that was miles away in Easthampton.  Chloe loves hearing about herself as any Diva would.

We’ve had work done on our house when nail guns were used. We learned the hard way that when that happens, Chloe needs to be at Doggie Day Care. Our first episode was so traumatic to Chloe that she ended up hanging out in Mary’s car the entire day. We had a hard time convincing her to come back inside even after the contractor left.

Chloe is such a wonderful dog that we do whatever it takes to keep her calm during any loud episodes. She has an anti-anxiety pill we give her prior to a storm and that helps some except she gets a major case of the munchies afterwards. The dog crate may be our answer. Only time will tell.

For Jeeves’ Sake

I wrote a posting back in February about Jeeves. He’s my iPhone. At this very moment he’s having a little temper tantrum. A big tantrum would be one an iPad might have.  I made the mistake of telling him that the posting before him called “Trolling the Internet at 1 a.m.” has had 2,612 page hits as of today. Wow!!!

He asked what his numbers were and I told him 72. “Only 72?” he yelled. Did you know an iPhone can screech when he’s angry? He wants to know why his story isn’t as big a deal as the “trolling one.” He begged for another chance, so here it is.

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Jeeves

Well it is Tuesday night and I’m trying to figure out what to write. As I look around the room, my eyes focus on something. It is a small red plastic chair that just maybe a flexible Barbie could sit in. Now I don’t have a Barbie Doll collection, so why the little red chair? Well…it’s for Jeeves.

Jeeves is my iPhone and he comes with accessories. Come to think about it so does Barbie.  Jeeves comes with his own Bluetooth Jam Classic wireless rechargeable speaker, which looks like a small blue drum and it comes in a container that looks like a jam jar. That is just brilliant marketing. He also has a small platform that he can recline on while recharging, that hooks onto the charger while it’s plugged into a wall outlet. Lately he’s been letting the wireless speaker use it. Jeeves also has a pink stylus. My choice…not his. He would have preferred black. Well, I am the one using it to punch in letters and numbers as the keypad is small and getting smaller. Jeeves has resumed his workouts at the gym and has slimmed way down.

For Christmas, Mary gave me pink and purple stripped knitted gloves with little silver tips. These are for keeping my hands warm while I’m swiping or punching Jeeves’ keys when I’m outside in the cold. Suede gloves just doesn’t cut it on Jeeves smooth surface. On Jeeves’ Christmas list, he had asked for a fur liner for his Otter case. His Otter case is a necessity in case of sudden impact. I drop him a lot. And, let’s be realistic, Barbie may have a fur coat in her collection, but then she’s in a whole different league.

Back to the little red chair…what is that all about? It is a replica of the popular Danish "Egg" chair. Jeeves enjoys getting comfy in it when I’m listening to music on the wireless speaker. The little blue drum makes a great side table! Plus the chair gives him a safe environment to hang out in. I misplace him often since his Otter case is black and blends easily into dark surfaces. With the bright red chair, he’s hard to miss.

Last night Jeeves was trolling on the Internet. See? I’m not the only one! He found the tour of Barbie’s Malibu house on YouTube. He’s now thinking about moving to a warmer climate. Plus he keeps talking about location, location, location. He’s definitely been looking at too many houses on realtor.com!!!

Two Women, Three Dogs Trolling Mass Pike in the Wee Hours

Back on April 9^th, we left our house at 4:59 a.m. to head to Waltham, MA for Chancey’s oncology appointment at 8:30 a.m. We were told by friends that due to the morning rush hour traffic around the Boston beltway, getting on the road any later than 5 a.m. could result in our missing the appointment.

You might think that we just all piled into the car and drove off. Not as simple as that. Many details had to fall in place for us before we pulled out of our driveway. It started the night before. I emptied out all the contents in my car. Then I started adding. First, a vinyl liner and then a blanket spread out in the back of my car (thank goodness the back seat can be laid down). Second, two doggie beds, water bowl, a gallon bottle of water and extra leashes go on top of the blanket. The rest of these items were stacked behind the passenger seat. First bag, had individual baggies of kibble, one can of dog food and three bowls.  Second bag, dog towels to wipe them off if it should rain or they step in yuck, dog brushes (if they roll in the grass or tangle with a bush that has burrs on it) plus the little orange scoop to pull off ticks.  Third bag has miscellaneous items such as a map (never trust Google Maps), tissues, Advil, and directions to the clinic.

Now it is 4:30 a.m., I’ve loaded up the cooler with treats for us – muffins from Dunkin Donuts (purchased the night before) bags of almonds, oranges, apples, protein bars. I also filled up four drinking bottles of our filtered water and they went into the cooler as well. The cooler went on the floor behind the driver’s seat. On top of that were our coats and two bulky purses. We let the dogs out for one last pee before they got in the car. We got their collars on (which requires running through the house to capture Eddie) and load them into the back of the car. I did a final walk through, checking that all lights are off and no water is running, that the doors to the front yard and back are dead bolted (strong winds have popped the doors if they are not) and I've glanced around to see if I left anything behind. Oops, “Hey Mary, I thought you were already in the car!” It is now 4:59 a.m. and we are rolling out of the driveway.

Two things I noticed about being out and about at 5 a.m. in the morning. Lots of places are already opened. Such as McDonalds, gas stations and Dunkin Donuts! I could have gotten fresh muffins. I never asked them the night before what time they opened. Second thing, there are many more 18-wheelers than cars on the Mass Pike.

We made great time and ended up in the clinic parking lot by 6:45 a.m. They have a great doggie area that is very Zen like. A mobile hanging off a tree and metal dragon flies arranged on a wooden fence.  We let the dogs explore and then we piled back into the car to find a restroom and food for the mommies. We drove around and found a Panera Bread open and had an enjoyable breakfast while the dogs hung out in the car. Upon our return, I took Chancey for a walk around the shopping center so Mary could feed the other two. Because of possible blood work, Chancey had to wait for his breakfast. One of the stores we walked by was a pet store and they had shelves of dog food facing the window. Chancey could smell the dog food and he was jumping up and down wanting to tear open one of those bags.

We headed back to NEVOG, New England Veterinarian Oncology Group, for our appointment. The staff was so kind and thoughtful. When they learned that we had two other dogs in the car, they were invited in. Fast Eddie was having a great time in the examination room, Chloe not so. She started whining and got restless then Eddie chimed in too. Back to the car they went. We then met with Dr. Silver who explained to us how his cancer would progress and what the options were for Chancey. It made us feel better when we learned that this type of cancer rarely had any pain associated with it. She explained to us what we should expect and she thought that he had about six months to a year.

With that information, we headed back to the car so Chancey could have his breakfast. I walked both Fast Eddie and Chloe while Chancey had his breakfast. By now they had already forgotten they had been fed and would have gone for Chancey’s food. That folks, is how food fights start.

One memorable moment occurred on our way back home. We had stopped at a rest stop. Mary went in first and I followed. My mistake was I just got out of the car and walked away without saying anything to the dogs. That’s when the howling started. As I got farther from the car the louder they got. I was laughing and a woman looked at me. I said “Yep, those are mine” and she smiled. You could hear each distinct howl. When they are like this, we call them “Eddie and the Howlers.” Their new single should hit stores next month. What a hoot.

Until next time…

Just Heartbreaking

Back on March 17^th Chloe and Chancey had a spa day where they got washed and trimmed down for their spring do. When Chancey came home, I pointed out several white hairs which I hadn’t noticed when his hair was all curly. Each day more white appeared. With his fur turning white we joked that “Chancey was having a mid-life crisis and was turning into a Westie.” Our vet had seen Chancey twice in one week and was concerned about how much whiter he was getting.  At that point, she suggested a biopsy which was done on March 28^th. 

The results came back on April 2^nd.  Chancey has a rare skin cancer called Epitheliotropic Cutaneous Lymphoma.  It was decided that we would take Chancey to the New England Veterinarian Oncology Group (NEVOG) in Waltham near Boston to get a second opinion, which we did. We learned he is in Stage 4 and neither surgery nor radiation is an option. Chemo is the only option and we don't like the odds. Without any treatment, he has about six months to a year.

We are extremely sad and we are trying to deal with the waves of grief that keep hitting us. It is hard to accept that he isn’t going to grow old with us. He’s only seven and we thought we had many more years with him in our lives. I can’t image coming home one day and Chancey not being there to greet me. I’m crying as I write these words. It hurts so much. I want time to stop. I want this all to be just a bad dream and it isn't.

"The Good Wife"

I am still in denial and shocked over Will’s death in the “The Good Wife” that aired last Sunday (March 23, 2014). I’ve been in mourning for the past week about the death of a character in a T.V. show. How pathetic is that?  

‘The Good Wife’ runs on Sunday nights and I record it on DVR and I watch it on Tuesday evening when Mary’s at class. So for the first 48 hours after the show’s airing, I was not aware of the death of one of the show’s main characters. Ignorance is bliss. But the past few hours I’ve been walking around the house doing chores and saying “They killed off Will” and “Will is dead.”

The co-creators of “The Good Wife” were in a dilemma when one of their original actors, Josh Charles, who plays Will, decided to leave the show for greener pastures. Will’s sudden and unexpected demise during the last 20 minutes of the episode, caught loyal viewers completely off guard. These outraged fans went online to voice their hurt over the loss of Will.  And their continuing outrage caused the co-creators of the show to write an open letter to the fans explaining why killing Will off was the best option for their continuing story line.

When the series started in 2009, Alicia’s husband, Peter, who just happens to be the District Attorney at the time, cheats on her by sleeping with a prostitute.  So the first show of the series has Alicia standing by her husband during the press conference portraying “The Good Wife.” Alicia needs a job since she has left Peter and ends up at Will’s firm. While working together, the chemistry between Alicia and Will grows into a very complicated relationship. By the way, did I mention that Will is Alicia’s boss?

This season, Alicia leaves the law firm and starts her own. Will views this as a form of betrayal and he goes after Alicia and does all he can do to make her new firm fail. So begins their cat and mouse game of proving who is the better lawyer using all sorts of underhanded tricks. But when Will dies, everything changes for Alicia.

On Sunday night, one of Will’s clients loses it in the court room, grabs an officer’s gun and randomly shoots people. Will is hit by a stray bullet and bleeds out. One of the sadder moments is when his client is seen sitting nearby with the gun under his chin clicking the trigger over and over again because he has run out of bullets. The other sad moment was a shot of someone’s foot with a brown shoe and the other with just a sock on it and a trail of blood (which was Will’s).  I watched the ending of the show twice to understand that his character was gone forever.

The good news is Will is reappearing in some flashbacks for the next couple of episodes. When I think of Alicia paired with someone, it will always be Will. I can’t image anyone else.

I always envisioned that when the series finally ends there would be a scene where Alicia and Will are walking hand in hand into the sunset and they live happily ever after. We all know that only happens in T.V. or the movies. Alicia and I are both heartbroken and it will take some time for us to realize that Will is never coming back to be her friend, lover, or even her adversary. And, Will was my all time favorite "bad boy."

Where Has All the Customer Service Gone?

Mary and I joined the 21^st century when we recently decided to get wi-fi through Xfinity . While reading the instructions, it mentioned that a backup battery should be installed. We didn’t see the battery and we spent a lot of time looking for it in the box, and looking for it in the trash as well, and just couldn’t find it. Mary called them. They informed her that the battery did not come with the wi-fi box and that we would have to purchase it for a mere $45 through the Xfinity Voice Battery Backup line.

Mary goes ahead and orders the battery. When it arrived, she installed it and nothing happened. The battery just wouldn’t charge. The green battery light never appeared as mentioned in the instructions. Two months fly by and I finally get around to calling Xfinity Customer Service.

After making three phone calls and speaking to four individuals, I truly believe that Comcast’s customer support staff originated from the spawn of Beelzebub!

In my first phone call, I explained about the battery situation and that the green light was not appearing on the front of the box which meant that the battery was not charging properly. At this point, the Customer Service Rep would not continue the conversation until I gave her the serial number. She told me it was located on the front of the box. Wrong. It was on the back of the box, and due to the short cables, it was hard for me to turn it around to read the numbers. I had to move both a chair and a lamp and then scoot the desk out from the wall to get to the back of the box.

I finally read off a long series of numbers to her and then she asks me why I was calling. This is when I had a true Juan Pablo moment - he’s the rude guy on The Bachelor who chided the host for interrupting him. I interrupted her and said, “You are not listening to me. I told you in the beginning of this conversation what the problem was.” She said, “Sorry...I can’t hear you and you should call back to the Xfinity Voice Battery Backup line” and then she hung up on me.

I immediately called back and person #2 kept me on the phone for a total of 12 minutes with many minutes of silence between each question he asked me. I had to say on two occasions “Are you still there?” because all I could hear was background noise of people talking. He finally came back on the line and said, “We will send out a new battery.” Yeah!!! I was then informed that I would have to personally return the first battery to the nearest Comcast store. For us, the closest one to us is 45 minutes away which does not make me jump up and down with joy about returning it.

My third call of the day…I’m looking at my notes and I realize that the battery is called the “voice battery backup” and I wanted to be sure that I really needed a battery for the wi-fi since I wasn’t using the phone jack on it for our phone service. Person #3 told me the battery was only for the phone and that it wasn’t meant as a backup for the wi-fi if the power goes out. At this point I’m so frustrated that I’m making strange sounds instead of intelligible words (I was envisioning practicing my high dive off the nearest cliff). Then she said, “I’m transferring you to our technical service department.”  

This is just getting better by the minute. I spoke to person #4 and explained the entire battery situation again and that the woman I just spoke to informed me that the battery was only for the phone service and not for our wi-fi if we lost power. Person #4 said the battery was for both the phone and wi-fi t if here is a power outage. Why didn’t the previous person know that? Aren’t they given any training???

His next comment was priceless - he informed me that we must have installed the battery incorrectly. I took a very deep breath and said, “Well if this second battery that is being mailed to us doesn’t work, I will call back for instructions about how to install a battery.” Because at that point all I wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs at this individual that I felt that the entire Xfinity Voice Battery Backup staff was a bunch of untrained idiots, but for a change I kept my mouth shut. I thanked him politely for his helpful assistance and wished him a nice night and hung up.

I now have bruises on my forehead from hitting my head repeatedly on the kitchen table after this last conversation. All I can say is that second battery better work or mayhem will ensue.

Until the next time…

Update: The second battery was the wrong size. The only reason I cared about having a battery was the instructions said to “install the backup battery.” Word to the wise – don’t always rely on instructions as whoever is writing them may not know what they are talking about.