Tuesday, July 31, 2007

i'm a winner.



I came home from work on Friday to find this sign in my yard. The Old Hickory Village Neighborhood Association awarded me Home & Yard of the Month! How about THAT?! I also found an Old Hickory Village mug tucked away on my porch.

Apparently, someone nominated me. Then I suppose the committee cruised by to check it out. They must have driven by on a day when I had picked up the dog toys that are usually strewn across the yard.

Now I need to mow & edge to keep up with the sign.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Oscar the Cat, harbinger of death.

Thursday, July 26, 2007
Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill.

She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.

If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.

Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Rules

My pal Jeremy and I made an arrangement a while back. If we are both still single at 30, we will marry each other. And time is ticking.

However, if Jeremy marries someone before we're 30, then I'll have to marry Cole. I mean, "get to" marry Cole.

Now, one wouldn't want to jump into marriage without giving it some serious thought. Who will handle the finances? Who will cook? Will you have pets? Well, being the responsible people that we are, Cole and I have established some rules, should this day come. (Guess who wrote which rules.)


1. We vacation yearly to Hawaii until such time as we both find jobs there. We both work full-time until we retire. (Not a sticking point, since "full-time" in Hawaii means "9:00am - 2:00pm four days a week because you are at the beach the rest of the time.")

2. Cole gets a vasectomy before the wedding.

3. Laura pours Cole orange juice in "the glass" EVERY morning and wakes him up by serving it to him on a tray. Laura is dressed head to toe in a Wailana waitress's uniform. She MUST say "Time to get up, Cole!" instead of his alarm clock going off.

4. Cole will zoom Laura around on the moped that he'll get as soon as we land in Honolulu. Cole will give Laura the Miata (almost paid for) and he will drive the Triumph. We'll sell Laura's Honda.

5. We get a bulldog just like Daisy. (Later amended to read: We get Daisy.)

6. Our parents can come visit us any time, but can only stay for three days at a time.

7. Our wedding ceremony takes place on Hawaii. Whoever can't afford to come is out of luck. Scott officiates.

8. We play tennis every Saturday morning. Laura lets Cole win 25% of the time.

9. Cole will wear his red aloha shirt once every week without fail. Laura will wear cute summery dresses and flipflops all the time. We will be tan.

10. Cole will not make comments about Laura not wearing makeup, except to tell her how he likes it that way.

11. Our kitchen will have cherries. But our bathrooms will not have pink or sea foam green tile, for crying out loud.

12. Cole will learn to swim so we can snorkel all the time.

13. Laura will put all of her money into Cole's account. Cole will give Laura an allowance.

14. We will forevermore host the ACU Spring Break Campaign students until we get so old that we start driving the wrong way down one-way streets.

15. And all of this will happen in the house we found on Gore Avenue.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

when it comes down to it



I agree. A person has no duty to retreat from an intruder before using deadly force. I should get to assume the intruder is armed and dangerous instead of having to assume he had a rough childhood and could be talked out of hurting me. I shouldn't have to retreat - I have a fenced yard, locked doors, and a dog. Oh yeah, and the laws against his behavior. Those should be the only warnings I have to give an intruder before it is fair to shoot him.

And clearly, this lawmaker agrees, even though he didn't vote as such.


Saturday, July 07, 2007

gag me.

it seems that Hotmail has a new ad campaign:

"SUPERSIZE YOUR INBOX - THAT'S HOT!"

the fact that they are using paris hilton's stupid line makes me want to cancel my hotmail account.