Sickly Sidney

As I have written about before in Sid the Sloth, my dad and Sharon got a new puppy.

My car has been trying to kill me for a long time. It does this thing where it jerks into not shifting gears, and often this occurs on the highway, or while I am driving on crowded streets. It is quite dangerous, and because of all the jerking my car has been doing, I got a crack in my radiator that turned into a split. I needed to get my car fixed, and seeing as the car shop is farther away from my dad's house than walking, I have to have a ride back home.

So I went to my dad's house on Monday afternoon with all the intentions of getting my car to shop, having dinner with my dad and Sharon, and spending the night so I could get my car the next day.

Instead I went to the doggy hospital.

Sid had that morning gotten into slug poison. He didn't eat a copious amount of it, mostly because he is ridiculously finicky, and instead probably swallowed some pellets by accident. That small amount was enough to cause widespread effects across his systems. Six hours after he had digested the tiny amount of slug killer, he was a slobbering, shaking, confused mess. Basically it was really scary.

My dad at first thought he had peed all over himself, and blamed me for the mess since I was "too lazy to let him out." In reality, he looked tired when I had gotten upstairs, and since he didn't immediately ask to be let out I figured he didn't have to pee. Instead I went and made popcorn and waited for dad to get home, which upon his arrival, it was made obvious that Sid was anything but tired.

When we realized that he needed to be taken to the doggy hospital, dad pulled him out of the kennel and carried him downstairs. I followed with dad's wallet and keys, helped him get into the truck, and we went to Petsmart which was also the vet's office. Sid was immediately admitted, and Dad and I were left waiting in Room 2.

The vets gave him IV fluids trying to rehydrate him, and then had to also administer Diazepam because he had a seizure. It was almost a half hour before the vet came to talk to us. She explained that slug poison was basically the deadliest stuff a dog could get into. Not only did it severely dry the dogs out, but the slug poison also had a second component to it that attacked the nervous systems of slugs, and consequently, dogs. So basically Sid's little puppy systems were shutting down because the big system, the nervous system, wasn't really in control anymore.

And Sid having a seizure was a bad sign. The vet told us his chances weren't good.

We had to transport him to a different vet clinic, because the Petsmart there wasn't an overnight clinic. So we loaded him back into the truck, now wrapped in a blanket, and drove to the emergency vet clinic. When we finally got there, (after I got us lost...) we passed him off to the new vets, and waited in yet another room marked with a 3.

It was a little while before the new vet came in to give us a very dire diagnosis. Basically he had a fifty/fifty chance. And even after he got better from the initial effects of the slug poison, he might not be the same. She told us he could be temporarily blind, suffer from seizures the rest of his life, and/or not have the same brain function or liver function. It was really upsetting to think that our ten month old puppy might not wake up tomorrow.

With heavy hearts, and a signed paper of DO NOT RESUSCITATE, we left the emergency clinic and went home.

Sharon was pretty freaked out and called the clinic every two hours the whole night. Every call ended with Sid having relatively no change. It was of course a good sign he wasn't getting worse, but really we wanted to hear he was getting better.

Finally around six in the morning we got the good news that he was on the mend. The slug poison had passed through his system, and we got the go ahead to pick him up around four that afternoon.

I was super relieved, and happy. Not only because Sid was going to be fine, (at least until his liver tests came back), and he didn't seem to be blind in any capacity.

My dog Dash was also happy to see his little brother come home. The whole night before, he moped about like Sid was really dead, and I could see how he just became a younnger dog when Sid made it home and was not in fact dead. And even though Sid wasn't 100% yet, he eventually did bounce back.

A few days later, he came back with excellent liver tests results. We were home free! Sid was a healthy dog.

He apparently didn't learn any lessons though because a few days later, he chewed an air conditioner hose.

Puppies v. Babies

I went to visit my cousin last week and to actually see the tiny human he created. I will say that I have baby sat a lot of babies, but they are usually a few months older than a fresh two week old baby. So I was disappointed when Greyson basically bored me to tears.

Now, I say he bored me to tears, and it is a bit of an exaggeration. My eye problems are still persisting, and thus I can not actually cry because they are so dry. That being said, I had no idea how boring babies could actually be. I mean, he seriously just sat there in his baby house not doing anything.

He fell asleep.

He woke up.

He cried.

He got fed.

He went back to sleep.

Honestly, I wonder how babies make it past baby-dom. I mean, they are so incredibly boring. You can't do anything with a baby that age. They have to be held a certain way, fed a certain amount, changed almost every hour...

I have concluded that puppies are in fact WAY cooler than babies. Not only are they relatively self sufficient, (they play with their own paws, lick their own butts, and can walk around), they are way more amusing. Honestly, if a puppy falls of the couch, people laugh. But if your baby falls off a couch, you are gonna have to talk to Child Protective Services. 

Pro: Puppies are way less breakable.

Puppies can eat practically anything. Shoes, hats, pillowcases, dog food, cat food, hamster food. Babies have a very specific diet. Milk or formula for a long-ass time, and then maybe mushy foods, then maybe not so mushy foods, and then maybe even less mushy foods... you get my point.

Pro: Puppies don't need mushy food.

You don't have to change a puppies diaper. You just put him outside, he goes potty, then you can rough house with him. You can't put a baby outside, then play tug with him. That is a BIG no-no.

Pro: Puppies are way more fun.

My final point, (for the discussion as such) is that you don't have to buy little clothes for a puppy. Babies need loads of clothes, that have a tendency to ruin at any given moment. Babies can suddenly explode with poop for no reason other than he just decides to poop as much as he possibly can, even if his diaper can't contain such an explosion. Puppies don't need clothes! They are covered in soft, fluffy fur that is totally washable. You can't go hose your baby off with a hose in the backyard, but puppies are free game. Played in the mud? Hose. Rolled in a dead thing? Hose. Pooped all over your cage, ate said poop, then vomited all over yourself? HOSE!

Pro: Puppies are easy to clean.

In conclusion, in the Puppy vs. Baby debate, puppies clearly win. So for anyone out there thinking they want a baby to play with, the obvious choice is to get a puppy instead. Babies are no fun, have a self-destruct button on their heads, can't play tug, and have no use for hoses.

Honestly, was there even a chance babies would win anyways?

The First Debate

I am just gonna put it out there now: I am an Obama supporter.

That being said, I quite enjoyed this first debate. Both candidates were actually working to make their points, and I appreciated that. It wasn't like when McCain and Obama debated, nor was it the very boring debates between Kerry and Bush.

While I truly wished that there was some more time for Romney and Obama to duke it out some more, (seriously, can't we give them like an hour and half?) I did like watching how the two men went at things.

Firstly, I am a slow arguer, so I would normally like Obama's approach of thinking things over before answering. But in a timed debate, I definitely grew frustrated with how long he was taking. I know that in a perfect world, they should get time to think, but if you only have an hour, PLEASE get to the point/make a point! Romney was definitely quicker to bite, but on that same note, I felt like I wasn't getting as much information, or he was redirecting back to some other statement he made in the debate.

Secondly, can they stop with the smug smiles? Every time something was said that the other thought they could use in opposition of each other, they had to smile smugly. Boys! You are on camera! Keep a poker face!

Thirdly, please let the mediator, mediate! He is trying to keep you within your time slots. Romney was awful at this, always having to have the last word, and going way over his time slot. Obama certainly did it too, but come on! "No, wait, the President got to speak first, so I need to finish this." That is a bunch a bullshit. You guys aren't "finishing" anything. Nothing has been determined as the "right" way to run government. You are just letting the American people know what you are standing for and how you are different or similar to each other.

Lastly, I wish that there would be actual specifics made. Like on education, the energy crisis, the economy, healthcare, etc. I like tangibility.

I also have a side point, mostly on the economy part of the debate. Romney was complaining about Obama isn't working and that his "grand plan" of getting more jobs would equal more revenue for the government. While I agree that more people working would add an overall amount of money in taxes to government, one cannot simply employ 12 million people at the turn of a hat. If that was possible, then I think it would already have been done and implemented. But since obviously 12 million people have not been suddenly employed, I am pretty sure that Romney does not hold some magic card that will make that happen. Obama's plan, which definitely seems more coherent and thought out, won't fix the economy, but it will certainly help more than more spending on military and less taxes on the rich.