stoutfellow

Since I'm getting three-day delays from Shipt, I've decided to buy my dog-related goods from Chewy - hopefully, they're less inundated with orders, and can get stuff to me more quickly. Unfortunately, they don't seem to sell the particular dog treats that Buster & Gracie like, but I stayed with the same company, at least, and have ordered a big bag of everyday treats and another bag of dental treats. Hopefully the dogs will like them.

I am not a cat person, so perhaps I'm out of line posting this, but this strikes me as a neat idea: The Fake Lap.

I don't know if there's any connection, but since I started giving Buster the new meds, he's been remarkably bouncy and happy-looking. He'd been having periods of seeming lethargy, off and on, for several weeks, but none of that lately! (The only problem is that Gracie sometimes gets hit with - call it "friendly fire".)

As of Sunday, Buster seemed to have recovered from his lameness.

Monday, when I got back from work, he was limping again, worse than before, and this has continued.

I have two possible conjectures. On the one hand, the vet gave me two pain meds for him, one of which ran out on Sunday. On the other, Monday was the first day since this began that I'd left him home alone (well, with Gracie); that means that, to go out, he had to use the rather steep doggie steps to the garage rather than the shorter step down to the back porch. (For that, I open the doors to and from the porch.)

I'll be taking him in to the vet Friday or Saturday. It's odd. It doesn't seem to be hurting him; he's as joyful and bouncy as ever, just on three legs. (He does put on a look of concentration when he has to put any weight on that leg.)

One drawback I've found to Bell's palsy is that, though I can close my right eye if I also close my left, I don't get a tight seal on the right. I discovered this when I washed my hair and got shampoo in my right eye. I have since learned how to minimize the chance of that, but it requires a good deal of care.

A few days ago, I discovered another consequence of the poor seal, when Gracie (cuddlebug that she is) started licking my face. Of course, I closed my eyes, but... well, you can guess the rest.

Apparently I was mistaken about the number of special-needs students in my classes; there were only three, and I've received all of their tests.

Unfortunately, I may still have to go onto campus tomorrow. In my geometry class, I gave a take-home final, allowing submissions in either electronic or paper form. Three of the ten students opted for paper, and somehow I managed to leave them in my office on Friday. Grades are due at noon, and it will take me an hour or so to grade those tests, so I'll have to leave home at about 9 AM (leaving margin for error and acts of God).

There's a winter storm warning in effect, through midnight tomorrow - an estimated 7" of snow and 0.1" of ice. The campus may be closed, and if so I'll have to decide what to do. I have a plan B...

On top of all that, I've got a grooming appointment for Buster on Tuesday. which was set back at the time of his last appointment six months ago. If the storm is as bad as predicted, I may have to call in and reschedule.

There is a thing that Gracie does - has done, for the ten-plus years she's lived with me - that is, frankly, kind of scary. It happens most often when she's excited, and it sounds like she's choking. It stops after a while, but it disturbs me a lot. I've mentioned at Hawthorne Animal Hospital, but they've pretty much shrugged it off.

Now, I have stumbled on the explanation, in, of all places, the linguistics blog Language Log. (Scroll down to the second video.) It's a breed-specific thing, the "pharyngeal gag reflex"; all Yorkies do it, and it's nothing to worry about.

I am relieved.

After breaking two pair of glasses, in the same place, in two or three months, I decided to go without for a while. I did fine without them for nigh on sixty years; surely I can do it again!

Nnnope. Standing in front of the class, peering at the textbook, and finally having to ask, "In problem 25, is the exponent on the 'x' 2 or 3?"... is *embarrassing*.

So, today, I wandered over to Target to pick up a new pair. The glasses that seemed best to me are unfortunately decorated - a degree of glitter that is not to my taste - but they do the job, so...

On the way back, I stopped off at the old Schnucks - the one that *isn't* closing - to buy some milk and try to get a feel for the layout. I think I'll be able to find things. I didn't check the cereal aisle, so I don't know whether they have the brands I like, but I did peek at the dog food/treats area. They don't seem to carry Alpo Variety Snaps, so B&G will have to make do with Milk-Bones, but in other respects it seemed satisfactory.

Buster is not a large dog; his raised head is about level with my knees.

When I'm in the kitchen, fixing food or eating a snack, he is, of course, very interested.

It is a most disturbing sensation to feel a dog panting directly into the back of one's knees (the armpit equivalent).

The call to the police did the trick; they called back after maybe twenty minutes, and just now delivered her to my doorstep. No ticket, either. :fingers crossed: