Sudokuaholics Anonymous 9A

Suzy, having been in the medical field, in a previous lifetime, I would say you are right, it happened more than people talked about. Expically when doctors still made housecalls. Once terminally ill were sent to hospitals to die the practice was curtailed, caue all it took was one hospital employee who did not agree,and whistles got blown, tales got told, doctors and/or nurses were brought before review boards and lost jobs or licensees if not charged criminally. Now that there are hospice units, I think there is a return of upping the morphine.

One thing you can put into an advanced directive is something similar to "If I am terminally ill and in severe pain and there is no hope that I will recover, I request to be adequately medicated to keep me comfortable even if this medication may lead to an inadvertent shortening of my life. " This lets your wishes be known, sometimes it is followed.

CYNB, did we do it? Fill up a page fore you got back???

Matt Damon visited my area! Well, about 30 minutes south of here, but that's local. He is apparently on a cruise. The ship has 110 privately owned apartments! Can you imagine owning an apartment on a cruise ship? It also has guest cabins.

I'm writing that one down MizT. It is horrible to watch people moaning in pain while unconscious. I visited my mother a couple of times and saw some of the patients she worked with.

NOLA, we do have heat, just not our central heat, our furnace. We have 2 electric space heaters and one kerosene heater, If you do not know about kerosene heaters, they put out a LOT of heat. Our Kitchen where it is located is actually warmer now than it would be with central heat. It just does not get into all the nooks and crannies of the house like central heat does. Hot spots and cool spots. We do get a bit of kerosene smell, which is not pleasant, but better than having freezing temps inside. Since we do not have a fireplace, this is our emergency heat. Al will be bringing home more fuel in case he does not get furnace repaired, or in case it is not adequate.

There is another kerosene heater in the dome, but it is not functioning properly and he has not been able to repair that one. Can't find the problem. If we had both in here, we could be wearing shorts or bathers. As my dad wuld say, "It ( the heat) would run you out of here. "

Suzy, if you want to use something like that, be sure to check it out with a lawyer. I am not sure I got all the words right, all the I's dotted correctly.

Heidi, I missed your posts while I was typing, just happened to go back to check. Funeral pyres were used by many cultures as part of the burial rituals. Some native Americans and either the Inca's or the Aztecs. We use cremation for humans, so a funeral pyre is a good option for you with Melody now. May she rest in peace, she was a good companion for you.

Do you think the other dogs will be upset with her remains being brought back to the farm? Will they miss her and look for her?

Hollie in particular misses her already. She knew something was wrong and has been snuggling up with Melony for the past day and a half.
The other dogs have not seen her remains. They're still in my truck and will remain there until it's time for the cremation. But with their keen senses of smell, they know where she is, and that she's passed away.

The Fife canaries will be shipped tomorrow. They'll be here the next day.

Good morning lovely SA people!
MizT - yes, you all did fill up more than a page while I was sleeping. Good to see, it was soooo sssllooww yesterday afternoon!
Oh Heidi - RIP Melony. Yes, the other dogs will know. We once had a cat and a dog who just tolerated each other. One day we found the cat dead and my son-in-law buried it in the backyard. For the rest of the dog's life (another 6 years) she would NEVER go up into that corner.
I'm with Nola and Heidi on the Euthanasia issue. The Advanced Health Directive here is just a useless piece of paper. My Dad's asked for him not to be resuscitated and was on record but they started trying anyway because I, as his Power of Attorney, was not present. My sister was, but they ignored her and I was still 30 mins away. Eventually she found the doctor on duty who could override - and he stopped it. Dad wanted to go, he'd said his goodbyes, why prolong it?

Heidi, my thoughts with you today. Melony had a long life and a happy end, thanks to you. May she rest in peace.

I agree with ending a life with dignity. We will do it for an animal, but not for a human. I have seen too many people, who had already stopped living, but their body did not know to stop. I hope I go quickly. I don't like seeing anyone else suffer and I don't want to, either.

Where is everybody?? All the topsiders must be snuggled up under blankets. I don't know of a warm spot.

LET THERE BE HEAT. . .

Hubby was gone almost 6 hours today hunting a motor and hunting kerosene. He found the motor, but not any more kerosene. At the moment, we have only the furnace running. We will see if it can maintain the temp in here without help from kerosene or electric heaters. It is soo very nice to have uniform heat through out the house again. My hubby did a great job today getting that furnace repaired!

I spent the afternoon hunting air leaks. even tiny teny ones you never notice are very evident when it is below freezing all day and a nice breeze is blowing. Neighbor happened to stop by when I was outside trying to fill any gaps that would let air reach pipes under the house and freeze them. Job went faster with some help. Eddie is a nice guy and would do anything for his neighbors.

I feel a lot more prepared for the cold cold temps now. Drafts inside and under house are much reduced now. We still have to do the windows, we have the plastic for covering them, poor man storm windows, but I think we both are ready to save that for tomorrow.

TAMI, I am here! Has it got cold down there yet? I saw forecast for south FL and they predict a freeze for inland areas of state tomorrow and Wednesday nights. You ready for frost? Do you have your one long sleeve shirt all ready?

Tricia, glad to hear that the furnace is fixed. It would be awful to have to go for a long time without heat. Al is a very handy hubby to have around.

Yes, it is cold down here. I actually own several long sleeve shirts and a few jackets. The kids have long sleeve shirts also. Dylan wears a long sleeved shirt under his uniform shirt. Mitchell can wear what he wants so he layers also. He is up a lot earlier than his brother. He gets on school bus at 5:30 am. I will probably drive him on Wednesday morning. I have meetings all mornings but Wed. so I don't have to be in quite as early.

It is time for bed. I will be back tomorrow. I hope all my topside friends stay warm and all my down under friends have a great day.

I took a long nap. i was feeling emotionally drained, and had a bit of a cry. No matter how much I rationalize it, Melony's passing is still hard. I loved her very much.

It sounds like the Topsiders here enjoyed the two winter related e-mails I sent. I can't repeat them here. One is winter photos, and the other is a brilliant poem (I sent it to Rayray and he giggled).
If anyone in the throes of Summer heat wants to see them, let me know.

Suzy... that avatar makes me . If you've seen the movie "Night At The Museum 2", you'll remember the scenes with "The Thinker" coming to life (voiced by Hank Azaria).

Another
I will be getting the new Rescue Collie probably in the next few days. Her name is "Rain".

Lucky and Chili have appointments at the Vet on Thursday afternoon. We're going to start Lucky on his epilepsy medication, now that we know the frequency and severity of his seizures. Chili is going in for a recheck on her skin condition and her thyroid levels. It's going to be fun to weigh Lucky. He's easily the biggest Collie I've ever seen. It's my guess that he's over 100 lbs (45.4 kilos).

Afternoon!
MizT, glad you have central heat again.

Heidi, I have seen the movie but don't remember the thinker - I can imagine it would be hilarious with Hank Azaria voicing it.

Tami, I can't imagine getting my kids out of bed early enough to get on a 5.30 bus. I shudder just to think of what it would be like.

Good news today - my friend who was referred to the town butcher has been able to get an appointment with the surgeon I went to up the coast. It's a lot more of a hassle with the travel, but it's worth it.

I also discovered that the problem I was having viewing .vob video files is easily fixed by changing the extension to .mpg. I think it even improved the quality of the sound. Ally sounds even better!

Good afternoon all - nice to see some posts during the day today.
Suzy - I saw the movie, loved it, and don't remember the thinker coming to life either. It's on Foxtel Box Office at the moment. I'm trying to get Colin to sit down and watch it, I'm sure he'll like it. It was one sequel I enjoyed more than the original. Great news that your friend got the good surgeon.
Heidi - I've said it before and I'll say it again Lucky (and Chili) are lucky to have the love, attention and dedication you give them, and I'm sure they pay it back in devotion. Welcome to the upcoming addition Rain - cute name.

Heidi, I am not surprised that Ray Ray giggled at your poem, I loved it also! Rain is an interesting name for a doggie. but it is rather appropiate, she makes puddles!

With that groaner, I am out of here. house is toasty warm, I can close both eyes tonight!

Suzy/Heidi - just watched Night at the Museum 2. Remembered the Thinker when I saw it. Heidi was right, of course, it was Hank Azaria's voice - he also voiced the Easter Island DumDum thingy. I enjoyed the second viewing - Colin never enthuses over anything, so don't know if he enjoyed it or not.

Wow! 5 1/2 hours this time - where is everybody??

I was out on a date! Saw Avatar with hubby then we went to the new bar in town. Great music and had my first ever Pina Colada - very sweet.

Night all!

Well, Cyn, where was was snug in my blankie, sleeping soundly. Best sleep I have had in a couple nights. Even think I might go back for another couple of winks.

Yesterday during my busy day, I had another important job. I was the automatic door opener for 2 kitty cats. those silly things kept wanting to go outside, then back inside a very few minutes later. On occasion they would stick out their nose and make an abrupt turnaround, " I am not going out in THAT" both are curled up sound asleep here in bedroom. My kitties are not spoiled, not a bit.

Gee, are peoples having trouble getting on to internet today? Did Gail break us before she left? Now, I could have run everyone off, but I have just had a shower and al all sweet smelling now!

Good Maen everyone! Had a lot of ffuts to catch up on around the house.
Heidi: A good cry always helps! Glad to hear Melony went peacefully.
I found some new avatars on www.picsearch.com, but had trouble using shrinkpictures.com site, found a free download for something called AVS Image Converter. VERY user friendly & fast. Got my avatars approved quickly. Going to look for more soon...Hello to MizT, Suzy, CynB, Heidi, TTT and anyone else I missed. Have a great day/night everyone! TTFN!

Isn't it fun looking for pictures, Suzanne?

I need to make some phone calls..... one to the Fire Department to let them know about the bonfire we're going to have. The other to Rain's owners to arrange pick up.

I've just finished taking down the xmas decs. Got to box one lot and then get them all put up into the attic till December.
Still very cold here and threatened snow hasn't materialised in this area though in lots of places in the UK lots of road clossed and chaos because of heavy snow. We will probably get snow tonight it is still supposed to be coming south.

Yes, Heidi, finding pictures IS fun! Hi Brenda!! Long time no see!!! Did you have a good holiday season?? Look forward to catching up with you!!

Morning all!
Heidi, you're braver than I am taking on a dog with incontinence. So much work if she won't use the door or can't get out quick enough.

Chant with me: I am going to have a productive day, I am going to have a productive day....

Warning: Gruesome story and 'cold' point of view
I'm reading the news before I start my 'productive day' of course, and one story kind of fits in with our discussion. There was a very bad car accident near Bateman's Bay. A car collided with a fuel tanker. The 2 children in the car died, the parents were pulled from the car with burns to 80% of their bodies. The father has since died, but the mother is still hanging on. If that were me I would want to go too. Burns that extensive mean pain and disability for the rest of her life, and she would have heard and seen what happened to her children. I don't think I would want to live with that.

Oh Suzy, that is indeed tragic and thought provoking.

Heidi, I have been thinking of you today. Do come back and let us know how you are doing. I think today would be worse for me than your yesterday would have been.