The Genetics of Kona

The results of Kona's genetic test are in, too. And they are a bit surprising as well. She is predominantly a very rare breed, most of the vets and technicians at the clinic I work at had never even heard of it. Sweet!

A lot of
Harrier Dog
+

Traces of
Australian Cattle Dog (AKA Heeler)
=The prettiest girl!

Again, here is my attempt at assigning characteristics to the breed they came from:

Harrier (50-60 pounds)
-square muzzle
-big bones and muscular build
-cheerful and sweet tempered
-likes to explore, sniff, and trail
-affectionate
-preference for pack setting

Cattle Dog (35-50 pounds)
-ginger color and spotted feet
-big ears
-upright ear
-fluff on underside of tail and back of thighs
-double coat
-alert and intelligent
-prone to pecking order scuffles

Top 10 (or 12) Quotes of 2008

Here they are, people! Our world is certainly led by intelligent, logical, and well-spoken individuals.

The Top 10 quotes of 2008:

1. "I can see Russia from my house!" — Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the TV comedy show "Saturday Night Live."

2. "All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years." — Palin, responding to a request by CBS anchor Katie Couric to name the newspapers or magazines she reads.

3. "We have sort of become a nation of whiners." — former Sen. Phil Gramm, an economic adviser to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, quoted in The Washington Times.

4. "It's not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number." — a Treasury Department spokeswoman explaining how the $700 billion number was chosen for the initial bailout.

5. "The fundamentals of America's economy are strong." — McCain, in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

6. "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." — the Treasury Department's proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

7. "Maybe 100." — McCain, discussing in a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, how many years U.S. troops could remain in Iraq.

8. "I'll see you at the debates, b------." — Paris Hilton in a video responding to a McCain television campaign ad.

9. "Barack, he's talking down to black people. ... I want to cut his ... off." — Rev. Jesse Jackson, overheard over a live microphone before a Fox News interview.

10. (tie) "Cash for trash." — Paul Krugman discussing the financial bailout, New York Times.

10. (tie) "There are no atheists in foxholes and there are no libertarians in financial crises." — Krugman, in an interview with Bill Maher on HBO's "Real Time."

10. (tie) "Anyone who says we're in a recession, or heading into one — especially the worst one since the Great Depression — is making up his own private definition of "recession.'" — commentator Donald Luskin, the day before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

Buh Bye 2008

It's as good a time as any to recognize the people and things in my life that I'm thankful for, so here goes.

-My Family. Even my extended family, for the most part, is composed of caring people who are loving and accepting of each other. They have been nothing but supportive, understanding, encouraging, and sympathetic for as long as I can remember. Whether or not we keep in touch very well, we're always there for each other, ready to listen or lend a helping hand, like no time at all has passed since we last talked. It would be nice if we could break tradition and all get together for happy occasions in the future!

-My Mutts. Kona and Hyside are my babies and I absolutely love them to pieces. I can't imagine life without them anymore. Even though they can be obnoxious and destructive from time to time, I can't stay mad at them for long even if I try. The unconditional love and friendship that they give is amazing and wonderful and always brings a smile to my face.

-My Friends (and thier families). Whether or not we've talked in a while, just like family, my friends are always there when I need them. The world's problems would be solved if everyone was as fun, free-spirited, and understanding as my friends. I miss you guys!

-New Experiences. I spent 2 weeks in Egypt, drove 2,000 miles with both of the dogs in the car to be in a friend's wedding, moved into a new place, signed up for classes, and spent the summer rafting the Rio Grande. Everything I experienced for the first time this past year, whether it were happy or sad, fun or a bit scary, left a mark on my life and in my memory and will certainly influence experiences in my future.

-Courage and Strength. Things in life aren't always easy, and life's not always fair. There's no escaping it. Whether it comes from within or from influences outside of myself, I've always been able to find the courage and strength to make it through whatever comes my way. And I know that I'll be able to continue to do so. I do, however, hope that 2009 is a little more kind than 2008 was at times!

Happy Holidays! And God bless us, every one!

The Genetics of Hyside

Instead of getting each other Christmas presents this year, Keith and I decided to have a genetic test run on each of the dogs to figure out exactly what kind of mutts they are. All it takes is a few milliliters of blood and a few weeks of anxious waiting. I could tell you how it works, but I'll save you the details. If you're really interested, you can check out their website. Anyway, the results aren't in for Kona yet, but the results for Hyside came in today! I can't tell you how all of this is physically possible, only that these are the results!

Some
German Shepherd
+

A lot of
Catahoula Leopard Dog
+

Traces of
Affenpinscher
+

Traces of
Miniature Schnauzer
=

A very handsome mutt!

Now I'll attempt to assign some his physical traits and his personality to the breed(s) they came from:

German Shepherd (75-85 pounds)
-large ears that open to the front
-bushy tail
-aloof personality
-strong self-will
-ability to learn quickly

Catahoula (75-100 pounds)
-unique markings known as "blue merle" or "gray leopard"

-webbed toes
-protective nature
-high intelligence
-lots of energy
-herding tendencies

Affenpinscher (6-9 pounds)
-under bite
-stubborn nature
-quiet until excited or threatened

Mini Schnauzer (11-15 pounds)
-tendency to defend vocally instead of physically
-not a random or incessant barker

Check it Out!

You may have noticed that I've added a couple of applications to the left side of the blog. Now, if you are ever on Jeopardy and win, you'll have split your prize money with me. This is because I posted the Trivia Box that helped you with some of the answers that won you the money. Kapish?

Vigas

Okay, if I were Keith, I'd make some sort of ridiculous video with cheesy commentary to show you all my new place, but I'm on a limited budget, so this is what you get! I don't have anything on the walls yet, so it looks pretty white and lame. That'll be changing soon though hopefully

For now, I'm just gonna show you the upstairs, which is where I live. I have it all to myself! I wish the photos did it justice. It's really great! There are wood floors and vigas throughout (You say it like "veega"s). My mom will love that part for sure!

Okay, here goes. Before you get to my floor, you have to go up the stairs. See what I mean about the ceilings? (Those are vigas for those of you who don't know that. I didn't until I moved down here!)

As you make the turn at the top of the stairs, you run into the walk-in closet, which, I managed to fill a lot more quickly that I had expected!

Next you enter the hallway. There are 2 big windows there. The house is passive solar, which means that it's heated by the sunlight entering through big windows on one side of the house. The heat from the sun warms the walls, which continue to release heat even after the sun goes down for the night.
If you take a right, you'll be headed for the bedroom. These views are both from the doorway.

If you head the other way, you'll go down the hallway and the bathroom will be on your right just before you get to the other room, which I'm using as an office/living room.
You can't see the toilet, but it's there. I promise. It's to the right, hidden by the wall that the shower is on.
Lastly, the living"ish" room. The photos are taken from diagonal corners in the room. The long windows, like the one in the first picture here, are all on the same side of the house.
Welp, that's it. It's not worthy of an episode of MTV's Cribs, but I'm okay with that. Oh yeah, and the views are great! I'd show you what I'm talking about, but it's dark right now, so it'll have to wait! Happy Holidays!

Gone?

In case you were wondering, no, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. To put it simply, I don't have internet. Soon though, soon.

The Neck Disaster

As many of you already know, I've been having issues with pain, tingling, and numbness in my left arm, hand, and shoulder for the last few months (actually the last 6 months.) A little over a month ago, it turned into very, very, very severe pain in my left arm and the back of my neck, which prompted my pain doctor to script me enough pain meds to knock out a small elephant for hours at a time, and to order an MRI of my neck (cervical spine.) Sadly, the meds didn't knock me out quite as much as I had hoped and only put a small dent in the pain. They do, however, have the same effect as a few drinks do. I'm definitely in a fog when I take them both and apparently quite a bit more chatty that usual. (Don't worry, I don't drive like that!) Anywho, not to any one's surprise, including my own, they found a pretty significant problem. A badly bulged disc. Before I show you the problem in the first picture, I'll see if you can find the problem first.
Okay. The bulged disc is between vertebrae C5 and C6. So 5 down from the top. It's circled on the next photo to show you where and what the problem is.
Now let me explain. Now that it's been pointed out, you can see that there is definitely a difference in appearance between that disc and the others. Instead of the space being lighter colored between the vertebrae, it's darker that the others. That means that there's something wrong and that the disc isn't in the correct position. Also, it protrudes outside of it's normal space. It has the ligament that holds the spinal column in place slightly displaced. (I can't really see that.) Next, the white colored space that is between the vertebrae and the spinal cord itself is spinal fluid. There is no white between the disc and the spinal cord, meaning that the spinal fluid has been pushed aside. The spinal cord is less protected from the spine itself. Lastly, the disc is actually compressing the spinal cord, which is the darker line running between both sides of the white spinal fluid. It's definitely not good that it's compressing the spinal cord. My chance of paralysis and developing other neurological signs is increased should that continue.

Below is a picture of one of my healthy discs, looking from the top of my head, down. Notice that there is a layer of white spinal fluid that's sort of the shape of a kidney bean surrounding the spinal cord.
Now let's take a look at the bad disc, which, again is between C5 and C6.
As you can see, there is hardly any white spinal fluid surrounding the left side of the disc (which is actually the right side of the picture as you see it here.) All of the nerves that are if the left shoulder and left arm bundle into what is called a nerve root that branches off of the spinal cord between C5 and C6. Without the spinal fluid to protect and cushion that nerve root from the vertebrae, the nerve is being pinched. Where the nerve is being pinched, false signals of pain are being generated. The nerves are being falsely stimulated in my spine, and signals are being sent to my brain as if the nerves in my arms are sensing pain, even though they're not. It's kind of a confusing concept if you haven't studied nerves before. The weird sensations of tinging and numbness are occurring because nerve information from my lower arm and fingers is being blocked from reaching my brain. Since my brain isn't receiving any signals from my fingers, all I feel is numbness.

For now, I'm supposed to continue getting epidurals in my neck, to decrease the swelling and pain so that I'm in good enough condition to try some physical therapy. If it's not better and is still getting worse in 3 months, I may be looking at surgery to fuse the 2 vertebrae in my spine. That's pretty much it for now. I'll keep you posted...