Me and Max

Just a bit of pet silliness. In case you are interested, Max has a bunch of nicknames:

Maxamillian Von Schnabel (Austrian)
Lootrecht (Dutch)
Trechtobal Gomez (Colombian)
Lucatoni (Italian)
Loot Podolski (German)
Basil (British)
Alfie Vismeer (Afrikaans)

More to follow.......................................

Carpe Diem.

Thunder is home

This is another one of those weird stories.

My good friend Larry (lunch with Larry), who lives in the neighborhood, called me this morning to tell me his dog Thunder had run away last night. Needless to say, he and his family were devastated and he had spent most of the night looking for her. I was very upset for him and their family as I could well imagine that if Max ran away how flipped out we would be! I asked if there was anything I could do and he just asked if he could drop off a flyer and if I would keep an eye open for her. I obviously said yes to both requests. While he was on the phone with me I told him I was going to look in our back yard on the off chance I would see her. Well...............lo and behold, she was there, all curled up in one of our flowerbeds by the pool. I got her inside and told Larry to get over right away. He got to us in about 3 minutes and what a great reunion. He got in touch with his wife and kids to give them the great news and then took her to the vet to make sure all was well.

Now this is what is so weird. Even though we are in the same "hood", Larry lives about 3/4 of a mile from us. How Thunder ended up at our house is a mystery, albeit a positive mystery. How she got into our backyard is interesting considering we have a fence to keep out the deer. Why was I home at the time Larry called and what possessed me to go and look in the back yard ??? Of all the backyards Thunder chose ours!

Larry and I have had some wonderful lunches together and he has given me some great advice on everything from home buying (Boca Raton) to home plumbing questions. He has also been available and around if I needed him during my ordeal. So I was delighted and thrilled that I was able to be actively involved in finding his dog. This was meant to be!!!

Carpe Diem.

Chat with Dr. Erlich

Since coming off the steroids, over a week ago, the intermittent coughing has returned. It's really weird, but when I bend down to pick something up or tie my shoelaces I start coughing. I know, don't bend down and get slip on shoes! Also when I lie on my right side I hear my breath wheezing and crackling but when I change to my left side, nothing. No wheezing or crackling. Strange!

Spoke with Dr. Erlich last night. He wants me to try Advair 1 puff twice a day and also Singulair 1 tablet a day. He would prefer not to put me back on the steroid tablets. We also asked him about going to see my pulmonologist Dr. Jacobs. If there is no improvement with the Advair and Singulair then he suggested we see Jacobs. In case you forgot, Dr. Jacobs was the one who delivered the cancer diagnosis to me back in March.

Nothing like a good massage to calm things down.

Carpe Diem.

Explanations of "isms" and corporations

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back,with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows. Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the shit out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy.
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

We picked Robyn up from college on Tuesday. Thursday we had a delicious Thanksgiving lunch at our friend Sandra (also Bulawayo born). And Friday we rested. Sounds biblical!

Saturday morning was action packed. Diana,Rob, and I went to get our immunizations for our up coming trips. Rob is going to Ecuador in January and Diana and I are going to South Africa and Zimbabwe also In January. Rob had to drag Diana into the office-talk about role reversal. Then, Rob and I went for something less traumatic - haircuts! That evening, we met our friends at PF Changs for some good food and company.

Sunday morning we watched Man U struggle to beat Man City. But they did 1-0. Later, the Arsenal vs Chelsea game proved more exciting. After an early dinner, Robyn returned to college. Chef Mike made some shrimp hargow for himself.

Carpe Diem.

Tourism in Zimbabwe

Who said tourism was slow in Zimbabwe!

Carpe Diem

Rest in peace Joan

Joan Bernet, the mother of one of my best friends, passed away last night after a lengthy battle with cancer. Our thoughts and well wishes are with you Bunda (Mervyn) and the rest of your family. We wish you all a long life.

Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving everyone.

I will tell you what I am thankful for:

I'm thankful that I am still here! I'm thankful for my wonderful and supportive wife who has suffered this tough journey right alongside me. I'm thankful for my kids. Well, most of the time. They are good and decent kids. I'm thankful for my two incredible sisters. Their love, support and generosity has been simply overwhelming. I'm thankful for my mom who instilled in me all her great values and wonderful life lessons. I miss my dad. I'm thankful to my extended family for all their caring, support and love. I'm thankful for my friends who have also endured this battle right beside me. I'm thankful for my flying friends who have remained in touch with me and shown me the true meaning of camaraderie. I'm thankful for my job and the great company I work for (UPS). Even though I am temporarily indisposed!!! I'm thankful for the wonderful medical staff who have treated me and held my hand through this war. I know I still have miles to travel. I'm thankful for my dog, Max, who is 11 1/2 years young. What a cool companion. I'm thankful for all I have achieved in life. I know there is still more for me to do. I'm thankful for all the tests and trials in my life (I think) because at the end of the day I know I will overcome and endure. I'm thankful to all of you who read my blog and keep up with my trials and tribulations. Thank you. Until next thanksgiving.

Carpe Diem.

Monday with Mary

Hi all. This is Hamster Man. Today I was at the infusion center at Sinai hospital for my monthly oil, lube and filter. Commonly know as a port flush and blood work. It was great to see Mary again but I sure don't miss the infusion center with all the chemo memories! Everything was fine with the blood work, blood pressure etc. etc. I have added poundage to my jowls and 1 pack (Budweiser graveyard). I am now at 153 lbs. Oink, Oink. When will this stop?

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

On Saturday morning, after a really cool breakfast of turkey bacon and eggs, we left on our adventure to Gettysburg. The new visitors center was really amazing. Lots of interesting information and artifacts. We really lucked out with our timing. It just so happened that it was remembrance day for something that happened during the civil war (forgive my ignorance) and there were hundreds of people in costume participating in this event. It was amazing. The whole town looked like a movie set. It made you feel like you were back in that time and era. The family was fascinated by all of this as they are very much into US history - even as die hard Canadians eehh. Oh, and we also lucked out with the weather. Friday night we had a dusting of snow to welcome our guests but the weekend weather was clear but bloody cold.

Saturday evening we did the obligatory Chinese dinner and then home to watch comedy stuff on TV and consume Cinnabons.

Sunday morning was bagel, lox and cream cheese time. Lest you think that all this eating and steroids hasn't helped my appearance, check out the pictures. One of my other cousins was kind enough to describe my appearance like this:

"Nice pictures - you look like a hamster with it's cheeks full and nowhere to spit the shells out... ".

Pretty damn accurate description.

Our Sunday adventure was to DC. We did the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. My Aunt did the Holocaust Museum and then joined us at the Air and Space museum. We drove around a bit, and once again, our Canadian guests were really impressed with all the sights and history in DC. We then said goodbye to them and they left on their merry way back to BWI airport for their flight to Toronto.

Carpe Diem.