I’m tired. Today really is humpday, the alternate word for Wednesday. Haven’t gotten much sleep due to my attempts to catch up with life. Dealing with Pepper’s death doesn’t make things any easier.

Y’know, I was just reflecting earlier on how sue-happy this society has become. Yesterday, Christine had to deal with a particularily nasty customer on the phone. She works at a bank, and this idiot of a woman was actually talking about suing the bank… even though she should have been dealing with the merchant she did business with in the first place! I read a lot of daily news about Apple (hey, it’s interesting reading!) and there’s a few companies that are contemplating suing them for whatever reasons. Some don’t have a leg to stand on, anyways. Then I read other news around the nation, and frivolous lawsuits abound everywhere. Don’t people realize that others suffer when companies have to raise prices to foot the cost of lawsuits along with all the other expenses that come with running a company, no matter how large that company may be? Very often, the amount of money the sue-happy individual(s) are screaming for is directly proportional to the size/worth of the company!

Ok… rant done… let’s get off the soapbox…

One of the small but cool things I did recently was getting a DVD player to actually work through my VCR to the older TV I have in the bedroom. Usually, most DVD players won’t let you run the signal like that. When a copy-protected DVD plays on it with that setup, the picture gets distorted so copying is next to impossible (I don’t get into copying DVDs anyways!). So far though, I played March of the Penguins, our Invader Zim discs, aaaaand The Lion King! You’d figure that Disney would have the best copy-protection, but the picture still came out clear as crystal. Way cool! I had to do this because we have a couple of european DVDs that Christine got for Christmas that won’t play on U.S. DVD players. Region encoding ruined free play for everyone in the world! We like the comfort of watching DVD’s in our bedroom and that’s where the computer is located. I had to reset the computer’s DVD player to play only region 2 discs so that Christine could enjoy her gifts. Problem, for now, solved!

The side effect to this is that, since my old Nintendo 64 was hooked to the bedroom TV, I had to relocate that game system to the living room TV. This brought on a wave of nostalgia for the older games in my collection. I’ll be playing those as soon as I get the chance!

Well, my next post will probably be about the investigation and decisions regarding Pepper’s unfortunate demise after a seemingly smooth surgical procedure. Anyone reading this, please wish me luck and prayers in this. Until next time…

This is hard for me to write; I’ve never cried for a pet as much as I did last night. I am saddened to report that my cute bunny Pepper died last night due to complications from surgery.

I had brought her in to our small animal specialist vet for an Ovariohysterectomy (Spaying procedure). This is usually done for rabbits to curtail behavioral (territorial) problems and also to eliminate chances of ovarian cancer. (For unwanted pregnancies, it’s the male that would need to be neutered.) The procedure was done and I was called later and informed that the operation was a success. I was told that we could pick her up after 4pm. We got there at around 5:45 and she was still in legarthy from the surgery. We were instructed to keep Pepper warm when we got her home and give her medication before bed. We never got a chance to give her the medication because, as time progressed, she was still laying on her side. Christine listened for a heartbeat and found it rather faint sounding and weak. We had her wrapped up in a towel for warmth all this time, and I decided to move her to the heated waterbed. She seemed to have gotten much worse after a little time, and her limbs were starting to stiffen! I made the decision to get her to the emergency vet right away.

Just scant minutes after checking her in, we were told Pepper had passed on. After the initial breakdown and healthy tears, I instructed the vet to do a general autopsy. A full one would be overkill for something like this. Before writing this entry, I called and found out that there was significant internal bleeding… not quite enough for death. However, in combination with a reaction to anesthesia, it may have been enough to kill her. I will be calling the regular vet today for follow-up discussion.

In closing, I just want to say that Pepper was actually one of the best companions I ever had. I’m more of a cat person, as I grew up around them, and my wife is a bird person. Pepper was very loving, craved attention, loved being around us and I’ll miss that attention greatly. I passed by her cage this morning expecting her to be there, standing on her hind legs, looking at me with those large lovable eyes like she usually does every morning. When I’d cuddle her, she’d lick my hands and arms. I’ll miss that, and more.

Goodbye, Pepper.

I’ve already started this year’s Christmas wish list. This is the first item…

Portable feline-butt cauterizer

… So gimme!

Thanks in advance!

(Disclaimer: calling a laser by that name is just for inane humor’s sake. I would never advocate animal abuse, as I love cats and other animals. However, lots of birds and mice wrote positive responses to this post!)

I’m starting to really love being a Mac user! Check out this article by David Pogue of The NY Times. Here’s a guy who straddles both the Mac and the Windows worlds, and even he is getting a little peeved at the “innovation” coming out of the Redmond-based Windows corporation.

I have to agree. A lot of what I’m hearing and seeing of the upcoming (late 2006) Microsoft Vista operating system seems to already be in my Mac OS X Tiger system since last June! Also, see this article with some illuminating movies, featuring Bill Gate’s voiceover of the Vista features… with footage of someone showing off the Mac OS X Tiger features! Hilarious!!

Cheers!

Everything went great for our New Year’s celebration. Wasn’t too much of a real party, just going out to Red Lobster on New Year’s Eve, then staying up for the arrival of 2006. Then Sunday, Christine and I were at her parent’s house being treated to a salad lunch, when I started coughing profusely. Things went downhill from there.

Monday, I’m at work at 3am to help with an inventory project and I just kept getting progressively worse. Chills, sweats, raw throat… the whole nine yards. My co-workers and manager came short of pleading me to go home early, lest I make it worse for myself and everyone else. Of course, I toughed it out just to get the essentials done and then took off early for home for immediate bedrest.

I worked every day since, fighting the common cold battle along with all the other problems and issues that come with my duties. After work, it was days of no internet time, no little chores, just rest… and juice… and water… and vitamin C… and water… and rest. Along with listening to my trusty iPod, I did get to play some LEGO Star Wars (see last post) to break the monotony. My Christine was very supportive of me during this time. She helped with what she could and understood when I couldn’t do much for her. She’s asthmatic and the same sickness would land her in the hospital, so I had to sleep on the couch for the past three days. Comfortable, just not a bed with a favored body on it.

Today, aside from a nice-sized headache, is the first day of the week where I feel more than fifty percent better. Hopefully I’ve beaten this bad bug which has infected about half of the workforce at my job. On that same note, my closest co-worker didn’t get away from it either; she’s got the first stage of it today that I got on Monday. Well, at least we now have three days off for some R&R. Next week should be much better, with the usual craziness that my work has to offer!