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BLACK BART

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Some of us are still recovering from last night; some of us are actually taking a holiday before the fit hits the shan; one of us just finally finished all the engagement letters to mail out.  Sorry I don't know any good jokes :(  It was in single digits here so I didn't participate in the fun run today.  It won't be fun tomorrow evening or Saturday morning either as marathon training began last Saturday.  I really don't like this cold - brrrr!

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We have friends who always have a New Years Day brunch, and we spent some time there.  I spent the afternoon catching up on household accounting, including searching ALL over for my folder on the credit freeze stuff.  Needed to lift the freeze for a few days so we can switch mobile phone providers - and the folder was NOT where I put it.  Except it was; it was just hiding in front of another folder the same color.  It only took me four searches of my entire office (at home) to find the bleeping thing!  I was not amused - but glad to finally find it. 

My engagement letters went out on Saturday.  Thank heavens!  I start getting client calls asking for them the end of the first week of January, and sometimes get so busy with those (and 1099's and W-2's) that it gets hard to get the letters out!  We had a three hour envelope-stuffing party middle of last week; I forget if it was Wednesday or Thursday.  

We got a higher temp here today than predicted:  we got to 13F when they'd said 9F was going to be the high.  When I teach on Saturday, the high is supposed to be 2F, with a low that night of -13F!  We have not seen a prolonged stretch of cold like this in a *very* long time.  Joe Bastardi over at WeatherBell Analytics has models showing the cold will last through mid-January at least.  Brrr!  Looks like the solar physicists are right and that ole sun of ours is going into hibernation for the next 20-30 years.  Add in the increased volcanic activity that tracks reduced solar activity, and that doubles the effect.  80% of our volcanoes are under (ocean) water.  So the ones above ground add ash to the troposphere, blocking the solar irradiance, and the ones underwater heat the oceans, which then evaporate more.  When that moister ocean air hits the colder air over the land ---> snow.  Lots and lots of snow.  Whee!  Not.  

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2 hours ago, BLACK BART said:

Anybody heard any good jokes lately?

 

Um,  I woke up in a good mood?  :P

______________________

Actually, I was reminiscing earlier today about a semi-amusing-turned-nice story of when the husband and I rode in a group charity bike ride on MD's eastern shore a few years back that I'll share.  Not wanting to spend all day at this event in the mid-summer heat, we decided to start early in the day and chose to ride the shortest route that I think was either 20 or 30 miles.  We started off strong and saw the arrows on the road but then an older gentleman that was assisting directed us down another road the wrong way because he read the course exactly backwards!  We rode on for a while and discovered that we'd ridden back out to the main highway and hadn't seen any other riders, and believe me, there were lots of people participating. Still, we continued on remembering that we were told to look for the event's pit stop with drink refills and light refreshments.  Out on the main road, sure enough there was a church with a large painted placard and arrow that read "BIKES" . . . and that's how we ended up in our full lycra bicycling kits complete with padded shorts and waddling around on our cleated shoes at a Sunday morning pancake breakfast for BIKERS, as in motorcycle guys.  They invited us to stay and eat, refilled our water bottles, and were genuinely very concerned that we were lost and riding a long way out of our way. We ALL had a good laugh at how and why we ended up there!  We both have a good sense of direction and decided to ride on down to the next town and then make our way back to the start area.  That day was a lot of fun even though we never did meet up with any other riders! 

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I thought of a pretty good one myself (not actually a joke, but a funny happening of sorts).  Clients who had sold their business came in last week for some tax advice (after the fact, of course) and prompted a remembrance of laughs past.

Some years ago, they stopped by the office to leave their W-2s but we had to stop discussing the case because school was out and they said they had to go get the kids.  I asked "What kids? You told me two years ago you weren't claiming any."  They said, "Oh no, we've got two children but we can't put them on our income tax return because we already  claimed both of them on our W-4 forms."   

Barbershop advice resulting in many chuckles and two 1040Xs :D.

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Warning-I'm having a very sad day. I'm just now getting down to my office today. My son started messaging me at 5:30 AM that his cat was having a lot of trouble breathing and what should he do? He's in Denver, which just makes everything harder. Of course, this would happen on a holiday so the only choice was the emergency vet hospital. The cat is only two and has not had any problems since he rescued him a year ago. He has an amazing personality and loves my son to death. It was hard for him to move and leave our cats, so he looked all over until he found the perfect one. The short version is that it was horribly expensive and he could not afford to keep him there overnight, so he took him home this afternoon with steroids for  a couple of weeks. His breathing was better, but still not good, so back again he went tonight. They gave him inhalation therapy and hope that this will push him into recovering. We are going to help him out, because he starts grad school next week while he's still flying for the airline and money is tight. I've been talking to him and crying with him most of the day. Unfortunately, I pretty much like animals more than most people and Hobbes is a wonderful cat. If this doesn't work, he probably has heart failure like my husband and we will all be devastated. 

Now I have to try to get my head back into working. I did at least get my corporation bookkeeping done last night, so that I can probably get it in on time. 

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Update-Hobbes has severe Congestive Heart Failure. He's only 2, so the vet thinks that it was congenital and just didn't show until yesterday with a vengeance.  He is not responding to medication and is still having a difficult time breathing. At least he got to go home and sleep with his favorite person. I wish that I could just jump on a plane today, but I really have to settle down and work. At least his girlfriend is there, so they won't be alone. We were hoping that Hobbes could come and live with us, but the vet thinks that he would only survive a few months with a lot of intervention.  We've been super lucky to have had cats that lived into their 20's, so it really sucks to see this happen.  Thanks everyone for your wishes and thoughts. The picture below is Hobbes in his Christmas gear. He always let Andrew dress him for any occasion! He was not necessarily happy about it. 

Hobbes.jpg

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Stinks losing furry kids - I lost both this year.

 

As for work - I did my corp W2s on Friday, did my own corporate return and my rental return on Sunday while crashed in the house. My personal return is about 50% complete - just waiting on a few forms that will come in March - will take me 20 minutes to finish it up. My wife's W2 and a few investment 1099's are all I need.

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Here's to Hobbes, that he has comfort being with those he loves and with those who love him.

As for a joke or two (or a half), nothing like a little pressure, but here goes.

This could happen to us someday.  Technically not a joke, more of a public service message.  

In the village of Riverwalk, an over 55 community people often eat at the clubhouse.   One morning Jerry, an older gentleman didn't show up for breakfast.  Some of his neighbors went to check on him and knocked on his door.  They could hear him thru the door and he yelled he was running late and would be there shortly.  So everyone went back to the clubhouse.  An hour later Jerry was still not there.  They went back to the house and found Jerry at the front door with a death grip on the railing.  He was having trouble walking.  They wanted to call an ambulance but Jerry said he felt fine,  just help me to the clubhouse.  Once there he had breakfast but could not get up from the table.  His friends called an ambulance and brought Jerry to the hospital.  An hour later the friends called the hospital and asked how Jerry was.  The nurse said, he's doing fine, but that he just had both his legs in one leg of his boxer shorts.   Moral of the story, if you get old, be careful and pay attention.

The Biggest Lie I tell myself is....I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it.

Gone are the days when girls used to cook like their mothers.  Now they drink like their fathers.

I decided to stop calling the bathroom the "John" and renamed it the "Jim".  I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.

I didn't make it to the Gym this morning.  That makes five years in a row.

Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators.  We haven't meet yet.

Why do I have to press 1 for English if they just transfer me to someone I can't understand anyway?

Am I ready for the Catskills yet?

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A new update on Hobbes-I was afraid to say anything. but Andrew took him to another vet Tuesday before he making a final decision and we are glad that he did. The vet said that he would try to save him by getting the fluid out of his lungs and trying some different heart medication. He improved some by yesterday and today he is eating a lot and they took him off of all oxygen. He won't live to a ripe, old age and maybe even just a few years, but it's something. He will need pills twice a day, so he will have to decide how to make sure that Hobbes is taken care of while he is flying. I just hope for him to have a happy life, since the first year that he lived on the streets was terrible.  A lot of family and friends were praying and maybe it helped some. I am relieved and just hope for no more emergencies for awhile. 

Thanks,

Bonnie

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Great news to start the day Bonnie.  There's usually nothing we won't do for our pets.  As a veteran of keeping many rescue dogs alive with a good quality of life, I know the feeling when you find the right doctor and medications, pure elation.  Yes, it gets very expensive, but the reward can be immense.    All the best to Hobbes and you and your family, you've done a great job helping Hobbes, what would he do without you?  

Bill

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Bonnie, I'm sorry Hobbes is battling this at such a young age and am relieved for you that he got that second opinion!  With a good vet, meds, and attention to details, I hope that your son and Hobbes will have lots of quality time for a long time yet.  I've been battling this with my pack for years now and am finally now down to the 4th and final dog of my pack going through CHF.  Getting the pet stabilized and out of oxygen is a big part of the battle, and then finding the proper dosage of meds to maintain that is critical.  It will be especially important for your son to watch for signs that some fluid may be building and get it to see the vet when the dosages need adjusting.

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3 hours ago, jklcpa said:

Bonnie, I'm sorry Hobbes is battling this at such a young age and am relieved for you that he got that second opinion!  With a good vet, meds, and attention to details, I hope that your son and Hobbes will have lots of quality time for a long time yet.  I've been battling this with my pack for years now and am finally now down to the 4th and final dog of my pack going through CHF.  Getting the pet stabilized and out of oxygen is a big part of the battle, and then finding the proper dosage of meds to maintain that is critical.  It will be especially important for your son to watch for signs that some fluid may be building and get it to see the vet when the dosages need adjusting.

Judy, That is very good advice. I will pass it to him. I know that he will take Lasix and heart meds twice a day. I do worry, because the vet that he is going to has a tv show on Animal Planet and is very busy. We have had a cat with CHF that we nursed along until he was 20 and one with kidney disease that made it to 21.  If Hobbes has to move here to have constant care, I will need to check with our vet to make sure that our three rambunctious boys won't make him worse.  If he has to come stay with us, at least that might push them to move back here sooner. :)

Bonnie

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