Santa was seen that night.....

And there I sat motionless in a Santa suit, at the edge of I-4.

I have made a tradition the past couple years to try to join up with my local cacophony group for Santarchy. Last year it was illness, but this year I at least made it out of the house but never made it to the event.

Some background is in order. First, Santarchy is an event where a bunch of folks get together for the sole purpose of drinking and having fun while everyone in the group of dressed like Santa. Second, my gas tank fuel gauge is faulty.When i fill my tank, I push the reset button, then I have 300 miles to drive before I fill-up and reset the button. Now, normally, these two events would have nothing to do with each other, but last Saturday, they met head-on.

The temperature was a nice 65 degrees. Chilly enough to wear heavy Santa suit comfortably. I rushed out the door, knowing that once the Santa's got together, the group would quickly move throughout downtown Orlando. The GPS had me arriving at the Santa rendezvous two minutes early. As I passed Altamonte, I was anticipating some of the merriment which be soon become bestowed upon me.

Then it happened. My SUV sputtered. My SUV lurched. My SUV's engine went off. MY SUV was out of gas. Across 4 lanes of traffic I coasted over to the shoulder. And there I sat motionless in a Santa suit, at the edge of I-4.

I had plenty of options, but decided that a hitchhiking Santa would not be a welcome sight for inquisitive children. My roadside assistance program was slow so I decided to just call home. It was about 2 hours before Lori got to me with gas. Luckily as I sat there I had my iPhone filled with Christmas movies, so I watched Elf. Not the night I had planned, but those are normally the ones that I walk away with good stories from. There's always next year.

My domain is back

I set my domain back up last night. Luckily I make backups and it was a simple upload to get everything (almost) back up. The only thing I did not have was a new home page that is iPhone friendly. No worries, I'll get that back as soon as I find it here.
I actually wanted to set this up for a while, Brighthouse just forced my hand.

Brighthouse SUCKS!

Brighthouse SUCKS!
I guess I should check my email, every email account I have to see if my ISP is "migrating" me. Those dumb-azzes at Brighthouse did it to me again. They have done away with the cfl.rr.com homepages. Nice, that is where I had all my stuff stored. The new dis-"service" is a crappy ad-based thing that sucks. I am pissed, yet again at Brighthouse. This is just after I set up an autofeed to the old cfl.rr.com.

Geek-Creed

This is my computer.
There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My computer is my best friend.
It is my life.
I must master it as I must master my life.
My computer, without me is useless.
Without my computer, I am useless.

Our hearts are heavy with sorrow for our loss

Today Lori and I laid to rest our little Franklin. It was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. We will miss him dearly. We have cried the day away and told stories of how our little guy had lived his life. He was the best dog; EVER. He was blind for the last two years and was so brave through everything. He relied on Lori and I more since his blindness, but it really didn't change him. He would get up in the morning and wonder when we were going to turn on the lights. All he wanted was to be near Lori or me and to eat. He would always be there and gave me courage as I was going through my whole cancer ordeal.

The last few weeks were very hard. He was constantly vomiting and had not eaten since Wednesday. Anything he ate came right back up. We know he was miserable. He was so weak, we would have to carry him outside to go potty, but as soon as we told him to go, he did. Last night, I took him out front, which I normally don't do, and told him to go potty when he was in the mulch. He walked back over to me and wagged his little paintbrush tail when he walked into my leg. I had to take him out into the grass, then he went right away. It was almost like he was telling me I needed to put him in the grass to go.

All day long, Lori and I exchanged stories like that. We thanked God for allowing us to enjoy him while he was here.

We love you little fella and you will always live on in our hearts!

12/5

This has been an exhausting week, I am so glad it is Friday.

Franklin has not eaten anything really since Wednesday.  He eats and drinks just enough keep him going, then he will vomit most of it up.  We have an appointment tomorrow morning at the vet.  Both Lori and I are preparing ourselves for the worse for our little trooper. :(

3 things

Just 3 things today that were noteworthy. Thing 1 is funny, so read that one first. Thing 3 can be read before Thing 2, so read them in whatever order you wish, but read on, brave soul....

A little background goes a long way, so here is part of it. I went to the dentist yesterday; there is another long story to insert here, but I'm only delivering on the 3 Things I promised, so I'll save that story for another day. As usual since Chemo, my gums are in bad shape and are receding faster than the speed of sound, actually, make it about a mach-2. The other background item is that I am a {dramatic pause here} night-time snacker. I ate a cherry popsicle (sugar-free) and not long after, I went in to brush my teeth. If you are following me here, I think my mouth is bleeding all over and I am freaking out. Ah, it was just a red popsicle he says as he looks at his red tongue. *sigh*

My Dad had surgery today as a follow up to his surgery and things went well. I spoke to him on the phone and he sounded good. Actually, for what he has been through, he sounded great. He does have to have radiation for 6 weeks, but I think he'll do fine with that. I am told that the cancer he had was unusual in that it was attacking the nerves in his face, so that is why he has to face the radiation.

Franklin is doing about the same today. Luckily he is keeping down a little more than he is vomiting. We are still very worried about him though. He is not getting better, just in a holding pattern.

We Love You Franklin!

Franklin is very sick. We are not sure how much longer he will be with us. It is so sad. Both Lori and I have been crying our eyes out thinking about the little fella dying.

Lori has been giving him an IV everyday. The big thing was he was not eating. For the first couple of days home from the vet he was eating and getting his strength back, but last night he was up vomiting all night thru this morning and he has only eaten a small piece of turkey the size of a AAA battery today. His ribs are showing and the skin is just drooping around his little face. He looks so pitiful. :( :(

We don't want him to suffer, but it is a hard choice to make. I guess we need to realize that at some point we are not keeping him alive for his happiness, but ours and it will be time to let go.

We love you Franklin!