Watch Out For Those Overturned Cars

According to The Paris News, the fine people at Waste Management here in Paris are adding another level of security to this city. Trash pickup employees are being trained to spot "unusual situations" they might encounter on their daily routes.

"Waste Watch is a program that trains waste management employees what to look for and how to report unusual situations they come across during their work routes. Simple things such as seeing four newspapers lying in a front yard, a warehouse lit up at the wrong time or an overturned car on a deserted road could be cause for concern." (Italics are mine)

From the article in The Paris News

Yes, I would think an overturned car could be cause for concern. File this one under M.O.O., or Master Of the Obvious. (Hello, Jessica!)

Synesthesia Challenge!

In response to my sister's post, here is my result of the highly professional and diagnostic synesthesia quiz:


73%

I believe that's the same score she got - must run in the family, ha ha.

Alan Keyes for President??

I took a survey at selectsmart.com that measures one's political standings against the presidential candidates, then shows you how they all rate against your theoretically ideal candidate. And the results are in. The percentage listed is basically how close each candidate agrees with you.

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Alan Keyes (80%)
3. Stephen Colbert (campaign halted) (72%)
4. Duncan Hunter (71%)
5. Tom Tancredo (withdrawn, endorsed Romney) (69%)
6. Mitt Romney (68%)
7. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (66%)
8. Chuck Hagel (not running) (65%)
9. Sam Brownback (withdrawn, endorsed McCain) (62%)
10. Newt Gingrich (says he will not run) (62%)
11. Ron Paul (60%)
12. John McCain (59%)
13. Fred Thompson (55%)
14. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (52%)
15. Tommy Thompson (withdrawn, endorsed Giuliani) (48%)
16. Mike Huckabee (44%)
17. Rudolph Giuliani (44%)
18. Christopher Dodd (withdrawn) (38%)
19. Michael Bloomberg (says he will not run) (37%)
20. Al Gore (not announced) (31%)
21. Barack Obama (30%)
22. Dennis Kucinich (30%)
23. Bill Richardson (withdrawn) (30%)
24. Mike Gravel (30%)
25. Joseph Biden (withdrawn) (29%)
26. Hillary Clinton (29%)
27. Wesley Clark (not running, endorsed Clinton) (27%)
28. John Edwards (24%)
29. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (23%)
30. Elaine Brown (16%)


Next up - the synethesia survey!!

Snickers Update

I took Snickers to the vet Thursday. She wasn't eating (which is a huge red flag, lol) or drinking much, and she was acting very strangely. Upon lying down, she wouldn't stay there very long, and would sit back up. She didn't do her normal happy-to-see-you dance when you go open the door, either. At lunch, Thursday, when I went to check on her, she got up, wagged her bum a little (no tail to wag, of course) and that was it. So I called work to let them know I wasn't coming back, and rushed Snickers to the vet.
Dr. Ballard listened as I ran through my list of symptoms (I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget something). I was thinking she was sick, from eating something she shouldn't have, or something else. Dr. Ballard had me take her outside and walk her, so she could see how Snickers moved. She was thinking something totally different than I was. After we came back in, they x-rayed Snickers, and the results came back: severe hip dysplasia. Her hip joints are incredibly inflamed and deformed. Dr. Ballard said she didn't think a dog with joints that bad would be capable of walking at all, so apparently Snickers has been masking the pain until it got unbearable - tough little girl. Anyway, the pain dampened her appetite, and also made it hard for her to eat and drink (bending her head down hurts, apparently). So she upped her meds (Previcox) to 1 tablet a day, and added a glucosamine supplement. So far, it seems to be helping a little - but Snickers is still not up to her normal self. Dr. Ballard said the degeneration will only continue - in a year or two, her mobility might be gone completely. Unwelcome news, to say the least. Do they make doggie wheelchairs?

Note: I would have inserted a gratuitous Snickers pic here, but Flickr is having a massage (a Flickr term for "We're working on the database right now") so that site is down. Perhaps later I'll edit and add a photo.