Stuff That Matters in Life

My friend Pat keeps 3-4 emus in her backyard.
She brought over scrambled emu eggs for me this morning. Each egg probably equals to about 3-4 chicken eggs. I don’t have very distinguishing taste buds, so they taste the same to me, maybe with a little more of the yolk taste.

True or False: The mistletoe, a well-known symbol of love at Christmas, is poisonous.

Answer: True. According to Dictionary.com, it is “a European semiparasitic green shrub (Viscum album) having somewhat poisonous leaves, stems, and waxy-white glutinous berries that have been used in folk medicine.”

Custom has it that at Christmas time, you would hang a sprig of mistletoe over the doorway. A young lady standing under it cannot refuse to be kissed. Such a kiss could mean the start of a romance. If the girl is not kissed, she cannot expect not to marry the following year.

I don’t believe I’ve ever been kissed under a mistletoe. I have a great husband for 21 years. Maybe I’m missing something. Quick, someone get me some mistletoe.

There is a greek goddess type of legend associated with the mistletoe. I will write about it in my “Origin of Christmas” piece one day, hopefully before the 25th.

How much are you willing to spend to save a dog’s life?

We justified a $4000 expenditure to save 5-year-old Chocolate. He should have a good 5-10 years of life in him. Even ordinary average human compassion could not let a little dog die when you know treatment is within reach, wouldn’t you do the same?

Here he is, home from surgery. Note the shaved back and long scar. I have a better picture of his scar, but too gruesome for general audience.

In 2 weeks, we will bring him back to have his staples removed. He had surgery last Saturday morning, and he came home on Tuesday.

When we brought him home, I told Audrey, “Hold on to him tight. If he gets run over by a car, the $4000 is wasted.”

I was being practical.

We are happy he is acting pretty much his feisty self, barking at cats roaming in our backyard and wagging his tail (which he couldn’t do with the ruptured disc. By the way, one big ruptured disc was what he had.) We are to keep him in his crate so he can rest up and recover fully before returning to normal activities like running. But we will not let him jump up and down the furniture, nor go down the stairs from Audrey’s room ever again.

If a White Christmas is what puts you in the mood for the holidays, do not come to Southern California. It’s over 70 degrees today, even decidious trees are still green (wait, is that possible?)

This started as a draft yesterday, December 1st, but I didn’t have time to finish it. So here it is, December 2nd, and I’d like to post something about Christmas every day until the 24th.

True or False: Jesus Christ was born some time in December, so Christians designated December 25th as the day Jesus was born.

The answer is….mostly false. It’s a trick question. We don’t know when Jesus was born, so it could’ve been December. I’ve heard, however, that it is unlikely because the shepherds and sheep wouldn’t be out in the field in the cold winter. (So where do sheep go in the winter?) Since we don’t know when Jesus was born, it can’t be the reason why Christians designated a day in December to commemorate his birth.

I am going read more about the origin of Christmas and write about it later, hopefully within this month.

One morning, Chocolate, Audrey’s dog, wouldn’t get out of bed.

As the week progressed, he seemed more and more unable to move. He looked pained, his back was sometimes arched, and he began tripping over his hind legs.

A visit to the vet diagnosed him with a possible slipped disc.
After a week of anti-inflammatory steroids and muscle relaxant, he did not show improvement.
We sought a second opinion. This vet basically said the same thing. He suggested surgery immediately. Chocolate still had feelings in his hind legs, so it is a good sign that he should recovery with back surgery. If he gets worst, he said, even surgery may not help.

On Thanksgiving day, Chocolate’s hind legs were almost completely immovable. He was dragging himself to move forward a few inches. The next day, we took him to see a neurologist at the animal hospital. The recommendation of this vet did not surprise us – surgery.

To be continued…

Elliot and I were mentioned in this article in the Wall Street Journal

That wasn’t all I said, but of course the author picks and chooses what he wants to put in.

Even though what was quoted did basically represented what I said, it makes me think that you should be careful when you talk to the media, or anyone who may quote you. It is very easy to have your words taken out of context, and the reader will get a totally different impression than what you actually said.

Makes you wonder if anything you read is actually what was meant by the originally source.

In the Ontario Mills (if you live in SoCal, you know which shopping mall I am talking about), there is a Lego store. It’s across from Build-a-Bear, by the way. I’ve been there many times with Amy. In the back of the Lego store are their sale items.

Legos don’t usually go on sale. So when I am there, I stock up on the sale items to give as gifts. Being the bargain-conscious shopper that I am, I choose the sets with the most pieces for the price. I bought a set with 300+ pieces for about $15, I think that’s pretty good. I stay away from themes that could get outdated such as Star Wars.

I think everyone should enjoy building with Legos. It can be as simple or as complicated as your imagination or mood requires. I think it’s the best gift to give and receive.

What did the astronaut say to the writer?

“I took your book with me to read in orbit, and I couldn’t put it down.”

Okay…