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Archive for July, 2007
Vet Visit with Rajiyyah
July 31st, 2007, posted in HorsesSome days I really feel jinxed. I get a mare going well and then something happens… Not something minor. No, it has to be something major: laminitis, pulled tendon, colic surgery, deep cut near tendons with possible infection… (I know, no relation to anything I’ve done. If I wrote out the list of medical issues Isis has had anyone would be suspicious.)
Last night, when I unbandaged Rajiyyah’s leg, it looked red and possibly infected. I did the regular regimen (20 minutes hydrotherapy, washing the cut out with chlorhexidine, and wrapping the leg). Her temperature was normal. Called the vet this morning. If anything might be infected, I’m not going to take a chance.
I left work early today to get to the barn a little before the vet did. I cleaned out Rajiyyah’s leg. It didn’t look too bad. It’s draining a lot, but I suppose that is normal. The skin looked redder than yesterday. Rajiyyah was still good about letting me clean the cut out.
The vet arrived with about six vet students. It was funny to see them crowding around Rajiyyah. She was fabulous with all of them. Very patient and happy to have the attention. She kept wanting to see all of the items the students had on them. Inquisitive little girl.
Prior to the vet examining the cut closely, she sedated Rajiyyah. Poor little droopy headed girl. It was probably a good thing though. I don’t think she would have allowed the vet to probe inside the cut otherwise. The good news was that the vet didn’t find anything inside the cut. However, she was worried about the depth of the cut (about .5 inch into Rajiyyah’s leg), the proximity to tendons, and the possibility of infection.
The vet wanted me to take Rajiyyah to UT today because of the location of the cut near the tendons and the fact that it might be infected. If the infection gets into the tendons, things get complicated and nasty fast. However, the swelling has been going down and the infection that is there seems to not be as bad… although it did look worse tonight.
I really panicked when the vet suggested taking Rajiyyah to the hospital. We don’t have a trailer at the barn. We would have to rent a trailer, hope to find a truck to use, and then get Rajiyyah to the vet school. Once there, the treatments would be intensive: IV antibiotics in her leg, and possibly other things too…
The thought of taking Rajiyyah to the hospital really panicked me. Was the cut really that bad? Had I completely misjudged the cut on Thursday and made a huge mistake by not calling the vet out immediately? Luckily, no. The vet said that she probably would have told me to do exactly what I had been doing, although she would have prescribed a round of antibiotics for Rajiyyah at that time.
The vet and I compromised. The vet gave me oral antibiotics for Rajiyyah. We’re going to try keeping her on them for two days. The vet is coming back out on Thursday to examine Rajiyyah’s leg. If she looks okay, then we’ll continue on the current course. Otherwise, we’ll be taking her in to the hospital. Yay medical insurance.
I was pretty much a nervous wreck this afternoon. How do you tell your Mom that her favorite mare has an injury that might get into her tendons? I called Mom and gave her an update. Felt relieved that she agreed with my treatment decisions.
Here’s hoping that things work out for the best… On one good note, one of the ladies at the barn was having a lesson when I arrived. Her instructor said that she might be available to haul Rajiyyah to UT if we need it.
Hole in Sun Room Roof
July 30th, 2007, posted in GeneralRoofers uncovered good size hole in the sun room roof: approximately eight inches long, by two inches deep, by a sloping four inches wide. No wonder patching the roof didn’t work. The low pitch of the roof combined with three-tab shingles meant water didn’t run away cleanly. Instead, it meandered through the shingles and into my sun room ceiling…
View the thumbnail below for a detailed look at the sun room roof. The edges along the left side of the picture show the rotted sheets of plywood. On top of the sun room roof issues, there were other things: the entire roof is double-shingled (extra cost to remove the dual layers), the top layer was installed with 2 inch nails instead of regular roofing nails, and there are other “creative” problems. Let’s hear it for roofs incorrectly installed! Not.
Spooky Books
July 30th, 2007, posted in Just Silly, TechOn the list of things that would be cool but utterly useless (except maybe to entertain the cats), was Spooky Books from Things You Never Knew Existed Web site.
This set of antique-looking books hold a surprise: the middle book pushes out on it’s own when someone walks by. Accompanied, of course, by spooky sounds. Definitely something that would be great fun during parties.
Roofers are coming! The Roofers are coming!
July 29th, 2007, posted in GeneralWhoever coined the phrase “happy homeowner” should be shot. I like my house, but you know I’ve had to repair almost every major system in the house since I bought it. It gets old after a while. Money pit, but at least it’s an investment (small comfort when you look at the checking account balance).
The latest repair, after last month’s lovely new sewer line and flooring in about 500 sq. ft., is a new roof. I could have had the roof repaired for about $1000 — but the full replacement was $2400, for the least expensive, reliable roofer I could find. He came recommended by the home inspecter. (Which is a good thing — because if I’m not pleased with the roofer’s work, then I’ll tell the inspector…)
The guy I bought the house from was a really sweet guy. He’d bend over backwards to help you out. I’ve found some places where the home improvement he had done were not quite up to snuff. Sloppy stuff — not using tape when painting so edges are finished. Not having floor boards pulled neatly together. Things like that. Much of the time, it’s just little things.
Well, I don’t know if this current problem was before or after the guy I got the house from. The roof has two layers of shingles. Not bad, but not good either. The roofer said that two layers can cause the newer, top-layer shingles to degrade faster due to heating from the lower layer. Whether this is the case, I’m not sure. I’m having 30 year dimensional shingles installed. Hopefully the roof will never have to be done again while I’m living here.
Every time construction workers have done some work on my house, they have found some major issue. I don’t think it’s guys trying to take advantage of me. It just seems to be the way this house was put together. I’m trying to correct things properly, but I’m out of funds.
So on top of everything else I’ve had to pay for, there is the cost of the roof. Since I bought this house, I’ve gblown through my savings and have gone into some debt. Sigh. At least I might be able to get my investment out of the house? I have major bills to pay and mild anxiety over all of it.
An Award in Dad’s Honor…
July 27th, 2007, posted in GeneralI haven’t written much about my Dad. As with any parent, there are times when you love your parents and other things that you find a little embarassing. I just found an article from the Manassas-Warrenton Camera Club, a photography club my Dad founded quite a few years ago. Photography was a passion of his. He didn’t find a camera club in the area, so he founded one.
I was googling Dad’s name, and discovered a write-up from the MWCC 2006 newsletter about an award they give in Dad’s honor. I was aware of the award, but hadn’t read their summary before.
James R. M. Spor Memorial Award for Outstanding Spirit and Dedication to the MWCC
It is time to submit your nomination for this prestigious award given in honor of our club’s founder and first president. James (Jim) Russel Meyers Spor established the Manassas Warrenton Camera Club and served as club president for the first three years. He devoted countless hours toward skillfully and lovingly nurturing the club through its early years. He constantly refined his vision of the club as he learned new ways to promote photography. He solicited fellow photographers to help him in achieving his goal of a first class camera club in the northern Virginia area. Jim was a novice photographer during the early years of the club, however he was a quick study and became a major contender on competition nights. He was a gentle man, never seeking personal recognition for his work. His reward was handing out a ribbon to a first time winner on competition night, to introducing a new member to the club, and watching the club grow. He did not realize he was gifted with administrative and organizational skills that many of us were envious. While he was a family man devoted to his wife and children, he considered the camera club members his extended family. He was the club’s mentor. Jim was a man we quickly grew to love and respect. Sadly on October 1, 1994 at an early age of 50 years Jim fell victim to a fatal heart attack. The memorial award was established in 1995 as our way to honor Jim for his unlimited devotion to providing a forum where fellow photographers, regardless of their skill, could meet and share their photographic experiences.
I was astounded to read this. You tend to take your parents for granted… and then you read what someone else thinks about them. And you can stop and say with great pride, “Yeah, that’s my Dad they are talking about.”
Miss you, Dad.
Farrier and Rajiyyah’s lovely leg
July 26th, 2007, posted in HorsesFarrier came tonight. She was very pleased with how Isis’ feet looked, and Rajiyyah’s front feet — until we spotted the cut on Rajiyyah’s back leg. The cut is in a location that is hard to stitch due to the tension on the location. Rajiyyah was not lame (a good thing) — which means that no tendon damage occurred. At least that’s what I hope that means.
So, I made a judgment called and opted not to call the vet out. I followed regular protocol: 20 minutes hydrotherapy to help the swelling, washed it out with chlorhexedine antibacterial/antimicrobial solution, and used Nolvasan ointment on the wound. Have to keep a close eye on the cut. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get infected…
Chore Wars!
July 26th, 2007, posted in TechOnline game where you earn XP for completing chores called, of course, Chore Wars. Earn XP for completing chores around the house. Sign up the household
and see who levels first…
http://www.chorewars.com/help.php#2
Cute idea. If Mom had used this when we were little, my sisters and I probably would have been more enthusiastic about completing chores.
Soft Hyphenation in HTML
July 23rd, 2007, posted in TechYou know how a word processor will break a long word at the end of a line? Well you can tell HTML to do the same thing. It won’t automatically break words, but you can use a soft hyphen to define where a word should break. I’ve often wondered how to do that.
Jukka Korpela has a good discussion of soft hyphenation in the different HTML specs.
Rode the Grey Wonder Mare™
July 22nd, 2007, posted in HorsesI rode the Grey Wonder Mare today, for the first time in several weeks. She was amazing. The best trick I’ve learned with Rajiyyah is to let her warm herself up doing free lunging. Her concentration is much better after she exercises herself for a little while.
So much improved overall. I wasn’t going to ride, but she did so well… We rode any way. She did very well: walk, trot, leg yields (very basic), and worked some more on backing.
Very pleased.
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