goodbye, Patch

Today, H. got the news that his pet rat, Patch, has died, probably of a brain tumor. This made him quite sad all day, so he got a piece of chocolate and cancellation of long division for today. It's not every day your first pet dies on you.

He was a stinky, nasty, long-hairless-tailed rat, but he was Henri's rat, and that's what mattered. So, goodbye Patch - I hope you have no idea that your body is now living in a freezer, awaiting pet cremation. That would just not be cool.

Note: I don't really like this whole pet cremation thing, or this trend towards spending billions of dollars on pets. I'm attached to my beautiful Caesar, but I don't buy him those massive giant cat play dealios. I certainly won't be cremating him when he dies. He'll be buried in a cardboard box with holes poked in it for faster decomposition, just like every other pet I've had. I'll probably plant some sort of pretty bush or tree on top of his grave to remember him by. But pet cremation? It's like $100. That's a lot of money, just to keep a pet's ashes. Thoughts?

Definitions

Neuticles: an artificial replacement for the testicles of neutered pets. According to AP, -The idea, says inventor Gregg A. Miller, is to "let people restore their pets to anatomical preciseness" after neutering, thereby allowing them to retain their natural look and self-esteem. "People thought I was crazy when I started 13 years ago," says the Oak Grove, Mo. entrepreneur. But he has since sold more than 240,000 pairs (a few of which went on prairie dogs, water buffalo, and monkeys). "Neutering is creepy. But with Neuticles, it's like nothing has changed."- Neutering is creepy? And fake testicles for animals isn't?

13265.47: The current Dow Jones Industrial average, and the lowest it's been in nearly five years, due in part to a bad sub-prime housing lending market (who woulda thunk that in a pinch, the sub-prime market would bust? need a crystal ball for that one....) and negative sentiment in spite of decent forecasts. What does this say to me? If I had money, I'd be snapping up Netflix stock, that's what.

The Underdog: which is right where he wants to be. Sen. John McCain is back in the role of the underdog, railing against party excesses and partisanship. I personally like this McCain much better than the party front-runner the press was touting him as. I doubt if he'll win in the primaries, because, like Howard Dean for Democrats, McCain isn't 'safe' enough for most Republicans. And by most, I mean the ones that count - the big donors. So, I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride, and look forward to hearing more statements like this from him: "It's getting harder to do the work of the Lord in the city of Satan."

Jailtime: how much time should a woman get for having an abortion? The latest Newsweek asks this question based on a video shot by a man at a protest outside of an abortion clinic. As one might expect, most of the answers were not answers at all, as most people who actively protest against abortion are idealists who - in general - have a hard time thinking logically about their position. So, if abortion is illegal, how much time does the woman get? Recent interpretations and Supreme Court judgments (I'm looking at you, Justice Kennedy) do not hold the woman responsible at all, preferring instead to place all blame on the doctor. You can't have it both ways. Either you criminalize the woman who is said to be committing murder (that IS the rhetoric) or, you realize there will always be those who make the choice to abort their baby regardless of the law or the availability of decent medical facilities. So, jail time and botched abortions? Or the legality of a practice I'm sure most people, even those who are pro-choice, would agree is not a choice that should be considered a woman's first.

Sick kitty

Poor Caesar spent the better part of today vomiting all over the house. It was not fun. Not for him, clearly, and not for me as I got to clean it up. Since cats often have gastrointestinal problems, for various reasons, I didn't really pay much attention until it turned pink. Thinks only turn pink if an animal hasn't had anything to eat and is bleeding from the stomach. This is clearly bad. However, there are various reasons for this too, none of which I could take care of myself.

So, off to the vet ten minutes before they closed. Fun! That meant that the base fee would be €20 instead of €100, the after hours fee. This is definitely good. However, he needed an X-ray (nothing bad, thank goodness!), two antibiotics (which he hated), and an IV drip because he was dehydrated and had a fever. Poor baby. Poor me - the visit cost me €81,20 total. Oh, well. Only the best for my baby! Unfortunately, we travel back to the US in less than two weeks, so he better get healthy fast. He's sleeping now, which I hope will help him recover more quickly.

Tomorrow, I get to spend more money on my kitty. fun! But as long as my little friend is healthy, that's all that matters. I have great earning potential - but there's only one Caesar. :)