Life, the Universe, and Everything

I am dogless

2008-12-18T04:15:57Z

I am dogless and not happy about it. I lost both my dogs this year within 3 months of each other. Pooch was 14 and Ginger was 12. I've never been without a dog for the holidays before and it is not fun.

Valentines

2008-02-15T04:22:35Z

Yes, Ginger has a Valentine. Awww...aren't they cute?

(I really need to snap a new photo of them! Legolas the cat is an adult now...)

Ginger had emergency surgery...

2008-02-03T22:34:49Z

Ginger had to have emergency surgery recently. I had to rush her to the emergency clinic, she was gagging and then I felt her abdomen and it was distended. When I got there I told them I think it's bloat and they quickly too her to the back. They did an x-ray and she had gastric torsion so they had to do emergency surgery (actually they told me to choose between surgery or euthanasia because Ginger is 11 years old...) They said she might not survive the surgery because of her age...

Bloat is a medical condition that dogs get, they're not sure of the exact cause. It's basically what it sounds like, the stomach bloats (fills with gas) and it is a serious condition for dogs. Gastric torsion is a problem that sometimes comes with bloat, where the stomach then twists, cutting off the blood flow and digestive flow. The only way to correct it is with surgery to untwist the stomach and then secure it into place to prevent it from twisting again.

Thank goodness, she went through the surgery well, there was no tearing of the stomach or nearby organs. They did find that a section of the intestine near the stomach was also twisted, but when they fixed the stomach and intestine the color returned quickly. I picked her up in the morning to bring her to my regular vet because the ER closes at 8 am. She did well throughout the day and even was able to eat some canned food while at the clinic.
My regular vet had me bring her home that evening because there is no one at the clinic overnight.They said we had to watch her for complications, especially heart conditions which can develop after surgery. The next day I took her back in to my vet for a re-check and they did an EKG to check her heart. It was normal. She has been doing well since then, she had one more vet visit to make sure her recovery was coming along and they said she is almost out of the woods. She is doing a lot better now but is still working on recovering.

Poor Ginger...

2007-09-23T04:10:43Z

Poor Ginger is having one problem after another... A few weeks ago I noticed a swelling on one of Ginger's front legs. Ginger's an 11 year old Golden so I was very concerned. I took her into the vet right away. She took x-rays which showed it was in the bone but were not conclusive as to a diagnosis. The worry was osteosarcoma (bone cancer) so we were sent to a specialist for a bone biopsy. The surgeon we were going to see was not available at the specialty center so I made an appointment with the oncologist there instead.

She took a look and did new x-rays because the quality of the others wasn't great... We also got chest x-rays which we clear. She was still concerned about osteosarcoma but she said that the appearance was not the normal look for that condition because the lump was not in the usual place it is with that, the view on the x-ray was not the normal way it looks, and Ginger had no pain or limping. She recommended doing a bone biopsy. The oncologist consulted with a radiologist but still they were not sure from the x-rays what the cause of the bone swelling was.. We went ahead with the bone biopsy which was done about a week later after the doctor consulted with some other vets. When we finally had the results of that, it was also inconclusive, not consistent with cancer cells but the vet said we still could not rule it out. The options were to do another bone biopsy which could cause a fracture and may likely yield the same results (the vet thought she got a pretty good sample the first time) or wait a month and do x-rays again. My regular vet recommended trying a course of antibiotics just to see if there is any result. So now we are waiting to do the next set of x-rays and see if we find anything more then...

Then last weekend I took my dogs to a dog event and I noticed Ginger drooling at the event. I thought maybe she was stressed or hot, and she stopped after we left the event so I didn't think about it much more. Then early Monday morning she couldn't eat. I put her food down as usual, came back and it was still there. I watched her try to eat and she would pick up some food, drool, and spit it back out. I looked in her mouth thinking maybe something was caught there, and found her tongue seemed to be oddly twisted to one side. I was really scared and got an appointment with her regular vet right away. Her regualar vet looked at it and she thought it might be squamous cell carcinoma (type of cancer) and that would explain her leg swelling as well. I was so worried, I couldn't even eat anything all that day and the next morning... When I went home I called the oncologist, and set up an appointment with her for the next day. That night I had to hand-feed Ginger by dropping wet food in the back of her mouth because she could not move her tongue or swallow very well.
When we got to the oncologist, she examined Ginger's mouth and said she could not see any tumor at all, just swollen tongue and mouth. She took Ginger in the back to have a few other specialists take a look and they agreed with her. They decided to sedate her so they could see how it appeared under anesthesia and do a biopsy. She came back out and told me what she found. There was sort of a blood blister on Ginger's tongue way in the back of her mouth and when she opened that up she found there was a pocket of air actually inside Ginger's tongue, which was very swollen. She did a biopsy and culture, and said it may possibly be some kind of infection or even a result of a sting or bite... She gave Ginger a steroid shot and antibiotics. She said she never saw anything exactly like that before so she's not sure of the cause.
Ginger started to improve a little the night she got home from the specialist. She is doing a LOT better now, she can eat and drink normally although her tongue seems to be painful still.
Poor Ginger, it seems that likely the mouth problem and the leg problem are totally unrelated, she is just very unlucky to have both happen at the same time! She's now on 2 types of antibiotics and I am still waiting for the results of the biopsy/culture of her mouth, and then we have to wait a few more weeks to do more x-rays of her leg. It's been crazy the last few weeks, I've been so worried about what's wrong with Ginger's leg I haven't been able to concentrate on anything and then adding the tongue/mouth problem on top of that...poor girl. I feel so bad that no one knows what is wrong with her.

UPDATE 9/27: I finally got the results of Ginger's biopsy and culture. The culture was positive for bacteria and the biopsy was negative but showed chronic inflammation which is consistent with trauma. This means she injured it somehow... My best guess is she tried to snap at a bee and it stung her, because she does like to chase bugs. She is doing a lot better with her mouth but unfortunately this means we still have no diagnosis for her leg issue... She has to stay on both antibiotics for at least a week or two more, and then we will be doing the updated set of x-rays of her leg.

Weird Al and Champaign

2007-08-22T01:56:37Z

I had a rather busy weekend last weekend. On Friday my family took an overnight trip to Champaign for my cousin's anniversary party. I had fun, got to swim at the hotel and see a lot of my family at the anniversary party. I overheard a sweet comment from my cousin's daughter. She's 9 or so, and I overheard her tell someone "(missucupcake) is my favorite cousin because she loves animals." Isn't that cute? I also got to meet my other cousin's new baby for the first time. It was a great party, I only see my cousins/aunts/uncles a few times a year so it was great to be able to spend some time with them.

Then, I went to a Weird Al concert on Sunday. It was a lot of fun! Weird Al really puts on a show. He does costume changes for most of his songs and while he's changing he shows funny clips such as some from Al TV or random silly things. There is also confetti, smoke, and lights involved.
For an encore, he did "Albaquerque" which is really fun because it's incredibly long (the album version is over 11 minutes) and he makes it adds things when he does it live...
I also bought a t-shirt with a picture of the album cover of his latest album (Straight Outta Lynwood) on it.
Now, if only TMBG would come to Chicago...
Here are some photos and video from the concert:

This was during the song "You're Pitiful" which is a parody of "You're Beautiful." Al started out in a sweatshirt, took it off to reveal a shiny button-down shirt, took it off to reveal the shirt in that photo, and took THAT off to reveal a t-shirt of SpongeBob's face. Then he proceeded to pull his pants off, revealing a tutu...

White & Nerdy

The Saga Begins

Amish Paradise

Riding a Segway as he sings "White & Nerdy!"

Singing "The Saga Begins" with dancing Storm Troopers and Darth Vader behind him.

"All About the Pentiums"

Blargh...workless

2007-06-18T04:14:15Z

Well I don't even know why I'm posting... Really nothing much to say here but I feel like writing something.
I've been looking for a job for the summer since April or so and have not found anything good. I have resorted to looking for babysitting jobs now...I really should get some type of vet assistant related job but I can't find any of those around, at least not in a place I would a) be able to reach by public trans and b) be in a neighborhood that is not potentially dangerous. I did put an application in at Banfield pet hospital (inside Petsmart) but I never heard from them and actually from their website there doesn't seem to be any job openings there.

Books

2007-05-08T04:02:01Z

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next three sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
6. Tag five other people to do the same.

Well, two books were the same distance so I will do both. Actually the second one was a little closer I think, but I didn't see it until after I grabbed the first book. The first one I grabbed was 'Essential Genetics: a genomics perspective'--

"From an evolutionary perspective, the unity of fundamental molecular proceses is derived by inheritance from a distant common ancestor in which the mechanisms were already in place. Not only the unity of life but also many other features of living organisms become comprehensible from an evolutionary perspective. For example, the interposition of an RNA intermediate in the basic flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein makes sense if the earliest forms of life used RNA for both genetic information and enzyme catalysis."

Ok, slightly less scientific... The other book was 'Sirius The Dog Star' (an anthology of dog scifi stories.)--
"The beast had survived its partner's misjudgement and Ebbet valued the animal's abilities so highly he'd insisted he must have another such pairing. No Human was available fast enough to suit him-- but a Tidik Finder-in-training, with sufficiently similar neural physiology, was. As easy to flu without wings as to refuse." (Story: Brothers Bound by Julie E. Czerneda

Bark in the Park walkathon

2007-04-22T04:01:10Z

I am walking in the Anti-Cruelty Society's Bark in the Park walkathon this year. Just in case anyone would like to sponsor me and donate some money to the Anti-Cruelty Society here's the link.

Would you like a coyote with that?

2007-04-04T06:40:16Z

So what'll it be with your Prime Rib sub? Gatorade, SoBe, or maybe a nice cold coyote?

This coyote walked into a downtown Quiznos today and then decided to hop into the cooler, where he stayed for about an hour while the police and animal control were called. More photos and video here. I saw a pair of coyotes in Rosehill cemetery a few weeks ago. Apparently there are quite a few in the city.

***************************************************

Coyote visits Loop restaurant but doesn't eat

By Mary Owen

Maybe it was the smell of the smoked turkey on rosemary Parmesan bread.

Shortly after lunchtime on Tuesday, a docile coyote nonchalantly wandered through the propped-open door of a Quiznos submarine sandwich shop in downtown Chicago.

Captured coyote

The handful of startled customers calmly walked out of the shop, Quiznos manager Bina Patel said.

"It was kind of like a medium-sized dog," Patel said. "At first, we thought it was a dog. We don't get dogs walking in, but it's more believable than a coyote."

Officials picked up the year-old male about 2:30 p.m., an hour after it had entered the restaurant at 37 E. Adams St. in the Loop, said Anne Kent, director of Animal Care and Control.

The animal ate nothing and no on was harmed.

Coyotes are more partial to small rodents, rabbits and trash, animal control officials said.

The coyote was the second in less than a week picked up in the city. A 2-year-old male was found near 31st and Wells Streets on Friday. He was taken to the Flint Creek Rehabilitation Center in Barrington, home to all of Chicago's transplanted urban coyotes.

Two weeks ago, a coyote was captured near Sheridan Road and Diversey Parkway in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Kent said.

About 10 to 15 coyotes are captured every year in Chicago, primarily in April and May when they are most active, Kent said. They usually live near waste containers and railroad tracks, away from large numbers of humans, she said.

Animal Care and Control receives calls of coyote sightings almost weekly, Kent said.

About 1:30 p.m., the coyote walked into the restaurant and plopped down in front of the soda cooler.

"It wasn't aggressive at all," Patel said. "It was just looking around. There were people outside taking pictures. We had a pretty big crowd looking in and taking pictures."

Coyotes typically are not aggressive toward humans, animal control officials said.

***************************************************

Hate is a strong word... my new favorite song

2007-02-15T02:02:06Z

My new favorite song.

(Click the > button to play)

***************************************

Hate is a strong word
But i really, really, really don't like you
Now that it's over
I don't even know what I liked about you
Brought you around and you just brought me down
Hate is a strong word
But I really, really, really don't like you
I really don't like you

Thought that everything was perfect (perfect)
Isn't that how it's supposed to be?
Thought you thought that I was worth it
Now I think a little differently

Hate is a strong word
But i really, really, really don't like you
Now that it's over
I don't even know what I liked about you
Brought you around and you just brought me down
Hate is a strong word
But I really, really, really don't like you
I really don't like you

Now that it's over you can't hurt me
Now that it's over you can't bring me down

***************************************

("Hate" by Plain White T's)

Good news (for once)

2007-01-08T16:28:41Z

Well I have some good news and some not that good news. The good (great) news is Ginger had a biopsy and the results showed no sign of cancer! The not that good news is they don't know why her spleen is enlarged still. They think maybe it's some type of blood infection, and she is on some supplements for immune system and spleen support which hopefully will help. The other not that good news is that it took over $1000 of vet testing to find that out, which means I am very very broke... Luckily my parents were willing to pay the vet for me and let me pay them back.

What else can go wrong?

2006-12-11T20:05:29Z

Seriously, what else? Or maybe I should watch out about asking that question?

It seems like everything has gone wrong for me in the last few months. The worst is that my dog Ginger might have cancer, but there have been many other things as well.

Oh, and if anyone is even reading this an wonders why I haven't posted in forever, on top of everything else my computer is still not working correctly after reinstalling Windows and losing a lot of my programs permanently!

First our phone line has been messed up for several months now. Unfortunately I didn't even know it at first, I just thought we were not getting a lot of phone calls until I tried to call our house myself a few times and found out no one ever got those calls. This just compounds the other problems.
Next both the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink decided to give out at the same time, they BOTH had rusted out pipes underneath them at the same time! That didn't get fixed for a couple weeks. When it finally did get fixed guess what-- the washing machine died. While we were down there taking a look at it we heard something dripping... There's a broken (dripping) pipe down in the basement ceiling too, unrelated to the washing machine!
A few days after Halloween, someone smashed in our car's side window. Of course our insurance doesn't cover that kind of thing...

Not enough problems, apparently... We're still trying to get those last two fixed and it's not easy when you never know if you're getting phone calls from the repairmen and they just aren't getting through... And what else can go wrong? Last weekend I was supposed to volunteer/participate in an event on Saturday with our therapy dog group. We got all ready, I even made a costume for one of the dogs to wear for this and stayed up till 3 am to finish it. We get out to the car and guess what-- it won't start!! I couldn't even let the people know I wasn't coming because I didn't have anyone's cell phone number.
We didn't get the car fixed for 4 days. Finally we did, had to get a new battery...
Then what should happen THIS Saturday, when I needed to get to the post office to mail something that was already behind schedule, the car would not start again! We waited around all day for the AAA people, when they finally did come to give us a jump, the car still refused to start. So, now it's back in the garage. I'm supposed to take Ginger to the vet this evening for bloodwork so she can get an ultrasound tomorrow to find out if she does have cancer, and I don't even know if I will have a way to get there...

What happened with Ginger is that I took her to my other (holistic) vet and she said her spleen felt really enlarged. So I emailed my regular vet for an appointment, and my regular vet told me that it could be cancer and I should think about what kind of treatment I wanted to do if it was... Ginger had an x-ray done last week which luckily showed her spleen wasn't as enlarged as we had feared, but she is supposed to get more testing done this week. The worst part of that is I don't even know if I will be able to afford any type of treatment... I can't even really afford the ultrasound, I would borrow from my parents and they would allow me to pay them back over time but with all the unexpected expenses lately their funds are really limited right now too--they don't even know if they can afford to do anything for Christmas this year... So I don't know what is going to happen to Ginger if it does turn out to be something that needs a lot of treatment.

Results

2006-09-28T02:55:12Z

Ok writing from school again...stupid computer at home still not fully functional :P

Well I finally went to see the hemotologist (a while ago) and FINALLY got the results back from the blood tests they did (less long ago). It took forever because it took a while after my doctor visit for them to get the results and then when I called I kept getting messages, finally I left a message and they (a nurse) called me back and left me a voicemail about the results. I was pretty sure I knew what they were gonna say because my sister has a bleeding disorder and it's genetic so I figured when they said something was wrong with my platelets it was probably the same as what my sister has. Well, it was, it's called von Willedbrands. It's not really serious it's a mild bleeding disorder kinda like hemophilia but not as severe. This is why I've always bruised really easily and I bleed a lot when I get a cut (and some other things too)... So anyway yeah...at least I know for sure now. Also the doctor advised me to wear a medical alert bracelet.

Today I spent all day (well most of it) waiting and staring at my watch- how fun. I had 2 lab classes and both of them involved a lot of waiting- one (Microbiology) involved placing a tube into an instrument (spectrometer) and measuring, then waiting 10 minutes and measure again. The other lab (Chemistry II) involved mixing chemicals and staring at my watching while waiting for them to change color, then mixing some more and so on... Zzzzzzzzzz........

Ooops, I gotta stop writing now because I was writing while waiting for my ride home from class, and they're probably waiting for ME now and getting impatient :P I just wanted to update about the blood test thingie since I mentioned it before in a past LJ entry...

semi-important announcement

2006-09-07T02:18:48Z

Hey,
I'm writing from school since my computer is still not working properly...just wanted to let anyone who may be trying to contact me know that I am still working on my computer. We were finally about to reinstall windows (thanks to the resident hacker) but my internet connection is still messed up and it's not letting me install anything that didn't come with Windows, ARGH!!! So I only can use the programs that came with it right now, and whatever prgrams I was able to back up that worked when I reinstalled (most stuff did not...)
So yeah this really sucks. I am having computer withdrawal, the only reason I can even type this at school is because my class ended early (9 pm instead of 10 pm bleh.) So just wanted to let everyone know I miss all you guys T_T I am sorry I can't talk to anyone right now it is driving me nuts but I am still being helped with the computer thank goodness (of course it took forever to even get help!) but anyway hopefully I can get all my programs working soon (I better!!)

TMBG in concert! also PSA

2006-08-28T06:49:16Z

Public Service Announcement: Just wanted to mention first that my computer's very screwed up (stupid virus), so if anyone has been trying to contact me I probably did not get it because it won't let me go to my email due to the changes made when I tried to get it fixed-- a lot of stuff stopped working due to the virus having integrated itself into a bunch of different programs, and other stuff stopped working because Symantec Anti-Virus won't let me go to things, blah...basically windows explorer does not work, and windows explorer is used in many programs (not IE, windows explorer) so all those programs do not work, including not being able to open ANY FOLDERS! X_X I'm working on getting things saved so I can start reinstalling Windows. Not fun but no other choice.. :/ Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Ok now on to the important stuff. I just got back from a concert at Lincoln Park Zoo and it was awesome! Lincoln Park Zoo had this thing called "[URL=http://www.lpzoo.com/events/jammin2006.html]Jammin' at the Zoo[/URL]." It was They Might Be Giants one of my favorite bands (loved em for most of my life, seriously--since I was a little kid) and it was so great... It was a last-minute thing as we only heard about it a few days ago and we luckily were able to get tickets just before the show (they eventunally sold out.) I'm really lucky that I even heard about it, I think my dad or someone just happened to catch them talking about it on the radio and mentioned it.

The weather was good, luckily. It threatened rain all day which worried us, and the news predicted scattered thunderstorms and rain. It got really dark at about 5 pm but we were lucky, all that happened was some drizzle on the ride there and a couple drops while the opening band was playing.
The venue was really nice, they have this large lawn area in the zoo where the concert was held. They kept the building with restaurants open as well as the big cats building, flamingo area, sea lion pool, the children's zoo, and a monkey exhibit. The rest of the zoo was closed off. It was really nice just to wander around the zoo at night-- they normally close at 6:30. The concert had 2 other bands before TMBG so I walked around while the other groups were playing. The children's zoo area was especially nice, it's had winding paths through an area with a lot of trees meeting overhead so it was nice and quiet and very pleasant. You couldn't really see the animals in there because the lights were down, but it was just nice to wander through it. I did get to see some monkeys, a snow leopard, a black panther, and the lions were lounging in their outdoor area. I did a fair amount of wander while waiting for my brother, who decided he'd come at 9 when TMBG was going to start playing. The other two groups were "Tally Hall" and "The Bad Examples." You could tell pretty much everyone was there for TMBG though! We got there about when the doors opened but we still did not have the best seats,(they let people who had zoo memberships in early) we were behind a tree so none of us could see the whole stage. Near then end of the concert some people in front of us left though, and my brother and I moved to stand closer and got a very good view.

I like all of TMBG's songs so the concert itself was great. The last time I saw them was a little toned down I think, it was 2 or so years ago at a summer festival in the suburbs. Their website says their concerts are not for kids-- most of the venues are at least 16-and-up, but the zoo concert was all ages so there were a lot of kids there. I think one neat thing about TMBG is they have a very varied audience as far as ages of their fans. They played a couple new songs from an upcoming CD and a few I hadn't heard before from their recent children's CD. They also had some good banter, including telling everyone the concert would benefit the flamingo exhibit-- 'yes that's right, ONLY the flamingoes. No other animals.'
They have one song that sounds conga-ish (if you're wondering its "No One Knows My Plan") so before they played they started singing like 'everybody conga! I'm really not kidding! Everybody conga!' It was really funny, and a bunch of people formed a conga line and conga-d through the crowd.
At the "end" of the concert when everyone started clapping rythmically for them to come back out after they left the stage, they came back did 4-5 more (long!) songs in the encore. Oh yeah and I got a t-shirt.
I would love to go to more concerts at the zoo, I think it's an awesome place to hold them and a good different use of the space...

If anyone's interested, you can read the list of songs and a review of the concert here:
http://tmbgtalk.1.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=3245&st=0&#entry84536

Take-a-survey thingie, got from mistymixwolf

2006-08-20T05:32:58Z

Ok Nomi I put it up XD
So answer!

1. Name:
2. Age/Birthday:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Rapper/Artist:
7. Favorite Book/Comic Book:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Favorite TV Show:
10. Favorite Video Game/Board Game:
11. Do we know each other outside of Livejournal?:
12. Would you give me a kidney?:
13. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
14. If you could change anything about your current life, would you?:
15. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?*:

Dog Scout Camp Journal-

2006-07-12T22:16:36Z

Dog Scouts of America Camp

This is all about my experiences with my two dogs Ginger and Pooch at Dog Scouts of America's June 2006 Dog Scout Camp! (For more info see www.dogscouts.com)

We went to Dog Scout Camp on June 19-24, 2006. I've been a member of
Dog Scouts for years and been wanting to go to camp forever, but could
never afford it. Then about 1-2 years ago a friend of mine told me
about their scholaship
program. I was really hoping to be able to go because Ginger and
Pooch are both getting older and I was afraid they would be too old or
just not be around to go if I kept waiting until I could save up enough
money... I wrote an essay and applied for the scholarship last year,
but didn't recieve it. I was told I could try again this year and I did
and we got the scholarship! I was so excited! I'd been to the
leadership retreat last year because I wanted to start a local Dog
Scout troop, so I knew what the setting was like, and could not wait to
go to an actual camp! The following is a series of photos and info
about our trip to Dog Scout camp.

Edited to add: Oops, sorry guys... I forgot about the whole "friends page" thing! To tell you the truth, I made a really quick and slapped-together webpage about this (because I was being pestered to death to tell everyone about camp :P ) and then just pasted the whole webpage in my journal..
I've added a cut, so the rest of the text and lots of PHOTOS are behind the cut.

What We Did At Camp

Here are the events we tried at camp. The links have more info on that
event/sport!

The items with a * next to them are things we qualified for a badge in.

To learn more about the badges you can earn, go here.

Here
is the schedule/curriculum for the camp, in PDF form.

-Dog Scout Class (Pooch)

Pooch took "Dog Scout Class" which is training for the Dog Scout
test. He did very well on the heeling and sit/down, but we ended up not
taking the Dog Scout test at camp because he was not ready for the
"leave it with food." He used to be fairly good at "leave it" but since
his hearing loss it's harder to get his attention and get him to "leave
it!" We're working on that and on "stay" so hopefully he'll be able to
pass the test sometime soon... The Dog Scout test allows your dog to
become a dog scout. Once they have passed they can use the title "DSA"
after their name and they are eligible to earn badges. Since he doesn't
have the dog scout title yet, Pooch can still do the requirements for
badges, but we can't turn in the badge forms or get the badges until he
passes the test.

-Art of Shaping (Ginger and
Pooch*)

"Art of Shaping" involves teaching your dog to paint! Pooch had already
learned to paint at a demo given by Lonnie Olsen (the director of Dog
Scouts) at the Chicagoland Family Pet Show a few years ago, (you can
see photos of him learning to paint and his painting here!) so we took the
opportunity at camp for him to paint a couple more pictures. This one
we entered in the "Art Contest" at camp. This is the other picture he
painted at camp. Because Lonnie saw him learning how to paint, we were
able to have her sign the badge form for Pooch. As soon as he gets his
Dog Scout title, he can earn the Art of Shaping badge!

Ginger had never painted before, so most of the time I was teaching her
the beginning behavior, which is to paw a board (which will later
hold the paper) on cue. She did pretty well at this but was a little
unsure, so I didn't push her too hard to learn painting!

-All Dog Band (Pooch)

Since Pooch had already done the requirements for the Art of Shaping
Badge, we worked on the next level, called "Fine Art of Shaping: All
Dog Band." In this level you teach the dog to play an instrument. Pooch
already knew how to play a synthesizer, but I was told I should teach
him to play something by touching with his nose since he already
learned how to "paw" in the Art of Shaping training... I decided to
teach him to honk a bicycle horn. I started with having him touch the
horn with his nose, but then he decided to put his mouth over it and I
thought that was a better idea! I started working with him with the
clicker to put his mouth around the horn. He got pretty good at that in
the one session where we worked on it, but he would not squeeze hard
enough to make any noise! Unfortunately we only got a chance to work on
this once, but I plan to buy a bike horn and train him at home until he
makes a noise with it.

The "All Dog Band"

-Dock Diving (Pooch)

Ginger tried Dock Diving at the leadership retreat and she didn't like
it, so I decided to try it with Pooch. I thought his life
preserver might catch on the dock or something and interfere with
jumping so I didn't bring it to the lake. He can swim with or without
it, but he is front-heavy so when it's not on he kicks his front legs
really far out of the water to keep his head up. We went out on a small
board which was set up as a "mini-dock" and he had no problem with
jumping off the end of it, so after a few tries we decided to try the
big dock. I threw a tennis ball into the water because he will usually
do ANYTHING for a tennis ball! He teetered on the edge of the dock for
a while as I encouraged him to go get the ball, and finally jumped it.
When he jumped into the water he dunked about a foot under the water!
He forgot about the ball after that and swam right to the shore. He
would not go back in the water after that! I felt bad I had not put his
life preserver on... After that when he swam at camp he kept kicking
his legs way up out of the water even when he had his preserver on. We
didn't try dock diving again...

-Puppy Paddlers* (Pooch)

Pooch worked on Puppy Paddlers, which is the first level of "water"
badges. Ginger already earned the badge at the leadership retreat. To
earn the badge, the dog must swim alone and with his handler without
climbing on them. Unfortunately he was a little nervous of
swimming after his dock diving experience, but I was able to get him to
swim with me and toss a ball out to retrieve and swim alone, so he
qualified for the badge.

The Pond/Lake

-Beach Buddies* (Ginger)

The requirements for this badge are here (PDF). This badge was
mostly fun for Ginger since she's crazy about anything to do with water
and retrieving! The hardest part for her was to stay while another dog
did a water retrieve, since she was desperate to jump in and retrieve
the item herself! Ginger passed the badge requirements.

-Boating Safety* (Ginger)

This was a fun badge to work on as well. Here are the requirements. I
have never rowed a boat before, so it was a new experience for me as
well as Ginger. One day we practiced getting in and out of the boat.
Ginger didn't had a problem with this, but I was a little unsteady!
Ginger has never been in a small rowboat. She did go out on a boat when
we did the Canine Cruise a few years ago and she
did really well, but this was a big difference from the "cruise" boat!
I decided to do all the parts of the water badges where I get in the
water on one day, so I was practicing the parts where I didn't have to
get wet first. I was going to put on my swimsuit the next day and
finish them then, but it rained all day so I had to wait. Finally we
got to the "check out" for this badge. I was glad I had my swimsuit on
because there was about 6-8" of water in the bottom of the boat from
the rain! I did pretty well at rowing the boat out into the pond with
Ginger sitting nicely in front of me, but I forgot that you're supposed
to turn around and row facing backwards (oops!) I did do that on the
way back in, though... Ginger earned the badge.

-Water Rescue 1 (Ginger)

I really wanted Ginger to qualify for the water rescue badge and the WETT (water
rescue) test, but unfortunately I wasn't able to find anyone to check
her off when I was ready to try. We did get to practice a few of the
requirements, though. The badge requires the dog to retrieve a life
jacket from the water and also a dropped item (life jacket) that they
didn't see thrown. Ginger has always retrieved things that I threw, but
I knew she would retrieve toys from the water if another dog left them
out there, even if I hadn't been the one who threw it, so I thought she
might retrieve the placed object as well. She loves retrieving in the
water and she'll pretty much grab anything. Someone was out on the boat
while I was practicing, so I asked them to drop a bumper BEHIND the
boat while they were rowing across the pond. They did, and I pointed at
it and said "Look!" (which is Ginger's command to look around for
something "interesting." It took a bit for her to figure out what I was
pointing at, but as soon as she perked up her ears and saw it I told
her "Go get it!" and she swam straight out and brought it back. I was
so proud of her! Later I decided to see if she would retrieve a life
jacket, which is bulky and awkward and she's never tried before. I tied
it up so it wouldn't be as floppy and difficult to grab, and threw it
in the shallow water. Ginger was a little unsure how to grab it, but
she did pick it up and bring it to me! She got lots of praise and a
thrown tennis ball as a reward. I tried throwing it further a few more
times, and she happily retrieved it. Then I tried loosening the ties so
it was a little more floppy- no problem for her! Finally I untied the
straps so it was all loose, and although she had to drag it on the
ground when she got to the shallow water she still retrieved it! I was
very happy with this, so we gave it a break. Unfortunately though we
weren't able to actually test for the badge. Maybe at the next
leadership retreat...

-Lure Coursing (Ginger)

Ginger has tried lure coursing before (photos here!) at some "fun day"
events around Chicago. When I've tried it before she will chase the bag
but only if I keep it was out ahead of her. I think that when it's too
close she realizes it's just a bag and stops, but if it's further away
it looks like it could be a bunny!

I tried Lure Coursing and was hoping to get her checked out for the
badge. She went around the course the first time but stopped chasing
near the end. The requirements say the dog has to run the course twice.

Later we kept trying to get her to go all the way around the
course, but every time she stopped chasing before the end! We tried
about 3-5 times and she chased it each time but each time she stopped
before the end... I don't know why, but this meant she couldn't earn
the badge. She did however have a lot of fun, get a good workout and
run all-out more than she has in a very long time! She ran the course
(well, most of it...) a total of 5-6 times which isn't bad for an
almost 10-year-old dog!

(click for larger images)

-Retrieve (Pooch)

I worked with Pooch on the retrieve. We got a little one-on-one
training session to work on this, and he did pretty well. He is still
not ready for the badge, but he is learning the "take it" with a
dumbbell very well!

-Obstacle Course 2* & 3*
(Ginger)

Ginger earned the obstacle course 1 badge at the leadership retreat, so
we decided to try for 2 and 3. These were pretty easy for her since she
used to be an agility dog, but she stopped a few years ago because of
back problems. We were able to keep all the obstacles low so she was
able to do them, and she had a lot of fun-- she's always loved agility!
She earned both badges.

-Agility 1* (Ginger)

This requires the dog to run a full agility course. Ginger loves
agility so we had no problem with this, except for one thing... The
A-Frame was as low as it could go but it was a little hard on Ginger
because of her back problems. It took her a few tries but finally she
cleared it! The other obstacles were a breeze. You can see some past
photos of Ginger on agility obstacles on the UKC Agility Info page I set up.
The photos of Ginger were taken at Windy City Agility Club, which
is where we used to train.

-Good Manners (Ginger)

Here are the requirements. We
checked out for most of the parts of this badge, but didn't earn the
badge. I misunderstood one part of it-- I thought the dog had to sit in
front of a friendly person "automatically" but I later learned you're
allowed to give them a sit cue! The other part we didn't complete was
the "go to mat".

-Dog Care* (Ginger and Pooch)

This badge was mostly about basic dog care. It's a new badge so their
website doesn't have the info yet. The dog's requirements include
allowing you to check their teeth and allowing grooming. Both dogs
qualified for the badge.

-TDI Test (Ginger)

Ginger is already a therapy dog with Chenny Troupe, Sit Stay Read, and The
Anti-Cruelty Society. However, all those are local organizations with
their own tests. TDI is a
national org and the testing allows you to visit places individually
with your dog and their insurance will cover it. The other groups will
only cover group visits which you engage in with them. Ginger actually
passed a similar national test, the TDInc
test years ago but we waited too long to send in the forms, so we were
not able to join. I took the TDI test at camp so Ginger could be in a
national group and we could do "lone" visits. This test was fairly easy
for us since Ginger has done 5 similar tests in the past! The "walking
through a crowd" part was pretty intense because they had people
pretending to be (slightly demented!) nursing home residents and
everyone was acting very loud and strange to see how the dogs would
react. Ginger had no problem with it, or with the medical equipment
which she is used to working around with Chenny Troupe... As soon as I
send the forms in, Ginger will be a TDI dog!

-Tick Tack Dog Game (Ginger)

This was a fun game we played at camp. We've actually played this
before at other dog events, and it's a lot of fun! It is like Tick Tack
Toe but with dogs instead of X's and O's! The way you play is there is
a big "board" on the ground (we used hula hoops for the squares.) Yout
team chooses a square and you have your dog go into the square and do a
"stay." We played "sit vs. down"--
one team, all the dogs had to sit-stay in their squares, the other had
to down-stay. If your dog got up and you couldn't get them back into
position within a certain time, you give up that square. With the dogs
who were younger or just not as strong on "stay", their owners could
stand next to them. It was a lot of fun and exciting to play! Even with
7-8 dogs staying directly next to each other at one time, there were no
squabbles.

-Simon Says Game (Ginger)

This is what it sounds like- a Simon Says game for dogs/people. "Simon"
would tell you to do something like sit your dog, walk around the dog,
etc and your dog had to do the required moves to stay in the game, and
you also had to make sure "Simon said." We had lots of fun, and Ginger
and I won!

-Copy C-A-T Game (Ginger and
Pooch)

This is a fun tricks game. I'm not sure who won because we got a little
distracted in the middle when the dog t-shirts arrived, but it is fun
to play. You can read the rules here.

Dog T-Shirts

DSA ordered some really neat T-shirts for people and dogs for this
year's camps. They say "Dog Scout Camp - Year of The Dog 2006" and have
a photo of a neat-looking dog on them! I ordered a long and
short-sleeved shirt for myself... When the dog t-shirts arrived they
were gorgeous! Unfortunately Ginger did not look good in the shirt-- it
just wouldn't fit her correctly, so I only bought one for Pooch. Here is a photo of my cat
modelling it!

Costume Contest

There was also a dog costume contest, which I entered Ginger and Pooch
in. Their costumes were a Chicago Police dog (Ginger) and a prisoner
(Pooch.) We didn't win, but we got a really neat "Costume Contest"
medallion for entering.

Here are some photos from the contest (click for larger):



More
Photos from Camp

Dog Scouts with uniforms, Group Photo

(Ginger is on the stairs at the right, behind the other dogs.)

Ginger in her dog scout vest at camp

Another photo showing the other side of her vest, taken after camp

Ginger on the dock

Photos of
the dogs having fun in the off-leash area:

(click for larger images)


....

On the way home, we stayed overnight in Lansing, MI. We stopped to have
a look at Michigan's capitol building, and I got a few photos of Ginger
posing in front of it:



After Dog Camp, Ginger and Pooch slept pretty much the whole way back
home to Chicago!

(click for larger images)

.

Stuff, random

2006-04-24T06:22:00Z

the Wit

(66% dark, 11% spontaneous, 31% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK

You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

The 3-Variable Funny Test!
- it rules -

If you're interested, try my best friend's best test: The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Masterpiece

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 86% on darkness

You scored higher than 0% on spontaneity

You scored higher than 34% on vulgarity

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

English Genius
You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 80% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 31% on Beginner

You scored higher than 44% on Intermediate

You scored higher than 79% on Advanced

You scored higher than 51% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

Vocabulary Vixen!
Congratulations! You got 15 correct answers (out of 16)!

You sexy thing! You probably own a book or two. You can communicate in complete thoughts and your knuckles don't drag while walking down the street. Now promise me you will use your word power for good not for evil.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 50% on wordpoints

Link: The BIG WORDS ARE SEXY Test written by MissMariah on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

Official Survivor
Congratulations! You scored 69%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 10% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

Unicorn
You scored 30% Esotericism, 34% Power, and 30% Malevolence!

The unicorn is a legendary animal. It is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead, although its appearance and behavior differs, depending on the location. In the west it was usually considered wild and untamable, while in the Orient it was peaceful, meek and thought to be the bringer of good luck. There it is usually depicted as a goat-like creature, with cloven hooves and a beard. In Japan it is called Kirin, and in China Ki-lin. The word "unicorn" is based on the Hebrew word re'em ("horned animal"), in early versions of the Old Testament translated as "monokeros", meaning "one horn", which became "unicorn" in English. The creature is possibly based on the rhinoceros or the narwhal, a marine creature with one horn.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 10% on Esotericism

You scored higher than 29% on Power

You scored higher than 42% on Malevolence

Link: The Mythological Profile Test written by LacedWithASmile on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

Pack Leader
You scored 48 pack mentality, 84 body strength, and 80 mental strength!

You'd make an excellent wolf. You would be able to control the pack in an effective way while being able to bring down prey easily. Your headstrength will also make you an effective alpha wolf. This is my first test, so it would be nice if I could get some feedback, so please rate my test! Thanx!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 14% on pack mentality

You scored higher than 63% on body strength

You scored higher than 57% on mental strength

Link: The Would You Make a Good Wolf? Test written by SeireiHoukou on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

*********************************************

The Jaguar Spirit
You scored 64% Creativity, 45% Compassion, 55% Strength, and 72% Intelligence!

You are a Jaguar Spirit. You move like a predator, and enjoy the night. You are agile and graceful, and have amazing night vision. You tend to be solitary, but sometimes get along with one or two others. Jaguars are very wild spirits with strong wills. Don't forget my two other spiritual tests: Sitakaliism Test Paganism Test, my political test: The Liberal Test, and my Biology Test

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 45% on Creativity

You scored higher than 31% on Compassion

You scored higher than 53% on Strength

You scored higher than 92% on Intelligence

Link: The Spirit Animal Test written by sitakali on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Owner saves dog from coyote

2006-04-06T06:54:43Z

Wow, I did not realize there were coyotes this close to my house! (~1 mile.)

Woman wins battle with coyote over poodle
By Josh Noel

Cissy Lacks was heading toward an afternoon of shopping in a Lincolnwood mall parking lot when she saw what she thought was a skinny, ragged dog slinking between the cars.

Suddenly the animal—a wild-eyed, snarling coyote—lunged for her 4-year-old miniature poodle, Annie.

Without thinking, so did Lacks.

The 60-year-old retired high school English teacher found herself in a tug of war with the coyote over her dog. She had hold of Annie's front end while the coyote clamped its jaws around the dog's hind quarters.

The contest lasted 15 brutally long seconds, but the coyote gave up after Lacks chucked a bag of clothes at it.

"The first day [after the incident], Annie was very, very sad, but now she's in great sprits," said Lacks, of St. Louis, who was in town visiting family. "But I still get a little edgy thinking about what could have happened."

The parking lot showdown was among the most brazen in a series of recent coyote attacks in the Chicago suburbs, and, experts say, a rare case of a coyote taking on a person, albeit over a dog. Coyotes have recently killed a terrier on a Northfield front lawn, a beagle in a Glencoe back yard and a 3½-pound Yorkshire terrier snatched in front of its owner outside an Arlington Heights home.

Thanks to Lacks, Annie fared much better, left only with a small gash on her left hind leg, several teeth marks and a large plastic cone around her neck to keep her from irritating the wound.

When the attack began outside Lincolnwood Town Center about 2:45 p.m. on March 27, Lacks said she was only able to lift the front of her 20-pound dog because the coyote already had a grip on the back half. Lacks did exactly what coyote experts advise: yell, kick with her boot and throw the bag in her hand.

The coyote retreated, but with an insouciance that still haunts Lacks.

"It sauntered away as if nothing happened," she said. "It just seemed to lose interest. I can't say I was heroic and fought it off. It's even scarier because of that."

Lincolnwood Deputy Police Chief Pete Swanson said Lacks reported the attack to officers at the mall, though the police did not witness the attack. He said officers assume Lacks did indeed come nose-to-nose with a coyote because the department has responded in the last two weeks to two other sightings of such an animal in the northern suburb.

Officers have tried unsuccessfully to catch it.

Armando Gracia, a Lincolnwood police community service officer, said a coyote has been spotted at a construction site near Devon and Lincoln Avenues—just blocks from the mall, which is at Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard.

They tried to lasso it at the construction site but couldn't get close enough.

"As soon as he sees movement he runs away," Gracia said. "Those things are really fast."

Coyotes have been a growing presence in the Chicago area for 20 years, said Bob Bluett, a wildlife biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. But coyotes usually keep their distance from people, even when the person is walking a dog. An aggressive move like the parking lot battle is rare.

"Usually the incidents aren't that bold," he said. "We're usually talking about the animal getting within 10 feet of a person, not actually getting into a tug of war."

He said the animals seem less wary than ever of humans.

Ten years ago a coyote looked over its shoulder when it entered humans' territory and found a free meal in a bowl of dog food, Bluett said. Now coyotes are "not looking over their shoulder," he said. "It keeps going through the generations until they're just saying, 'Well, there's another person.'"

Rob Erickson, a self-employed coyote trapper who recently nabbed seven coyotes for the Village of Arlington Heights, said coyotes are going after pets more often.

"It doesn't seem to be getting rare at all anymore," he said. "It's increasing. It's alarming. They've adapted to suburbia so well."

This is the time of year when coyotes are most likely to come into contact with humans and their pets, he said. Coyote mating season is—coincidentally—around Valentine's Day, which puts most births around mid-April. Until the pups arrive, he said, male coyotes are extremely territorial and itching for a fight.

Another possibility, he said, is that the Lincolnwood coyote is ill. Sick coyotes typically don't have the strength to hunt wild prey and need to go after slower, easier targets.

"Those are the types of animals we recommend be removed," Bluett said. "We don't see all coyotes as evil. There are all sorts in the Chicago area that don't cause problems, but when we see one like that, removal is probably in everyone's best interest."

There's FISH in there?!?

2006-04-03T05:39:44Z

Wow... I was walking the dogs by the canal the other day when I saw a [i]large[/i] fish swimming around in there!
This canal is the North Shore Channel Canal, it's connected to the Chicago Sanitary Canal which was previously a raw sewage canal, and it is still an overflow/treated water canal (in other words it is not clean at all...) I knew there were some fish in there but I assumed they were small...

Then the next day, my brother and I went down there with a spotlight and we saw a lot more big fish! There seemed to be 2-3 types, some were darker colored, some lighter, and then another type seemed not as long, with reddish fins. It was hard to tell what they looked like as the water is very murky, so I'm not sure what kind or how big they are, but if I'd have to guess I'd say 14-16" or more!

When it gets warmer, (and I get around to buying a new fishing license) I'd like to go down there with a fishing pole and see if I can catch one to measure it and try to figure out what kind it was. I'd probably wear rubber gloves though, bleh...

It's surprising how much wildlife lives in/around that canal, right in the city. I've seen several fairly large unidentified mammals (no idea what they were, they were larger than raccoons) as well as some type of large white goose, something that was porbably a muskrat or beaver, evidence of beavers (trees chewed up), deer (not right near my area, but north), foxes (north), large wading birds (herons, cranes, or something similar) and of course ducks and geese. There are also turtles but I haven't personally seen any alive.

Doctor Who, hey! Doctor Who

2006-03-18T08:07:30Z

In honor of the new Doctor Who finally coming to the SciFi channel from BBC (it was on tonight, I Tivo'd it but haven't watched it yet!) here a link to is the awesome Doctor Who song/video:

"The Timelords - Doctorin' the Tardis"

I haven't heard this song in years (I probably heard it on Dr. Demento) so I was psyched when my sister sent me the link to this video! I've never seen the video before, it's pretty funny. Now I want to see the old Doctor Who! I miss the old show, especially Tom Baker... It's available on DVD, too bad I'm so broke.

Snow snow snow

2006-03-17T05:14:37Z

Snow snow snow... I was hoping it was really getting to be spring, but then we got lots of snow today! Just last weekend it was 60 degrees, and now it's snowing!
The snow was really heavy/wet so it draped over all the trees and looked pretty, and I took some pics:

Ginger of course loved it.

Ginger's pawprints ^_^

Well I really should be working on my endocrinology paper which is due on Saturday so I better finish writing here :P
A 5 page paper may not sound like much until the professor tells you it has to be 10 point Times New Roman, single spaced with exactly 1" margins...ack!

How weird are you?

2006-03-10T07:20:31Z

Thanks for taking the Weird Quotient test

Your score is:
124

Of all the weird test takers:
6% are more weird,
2% are just as weird, and
92% are more normal than you!

For your hard work, here is a prize:

Well duh... I already knew I was weird!

Good news!

2006-03-02T05:41:48Z

Good news... I talked to the anime club people and I offered to re-do the club's website because it was a real mess. So, they said since I am doing the website for the club I can go to Acen after all!! WOO!
I also was able to "resign" as vice president rather than have a "trial" whatever that is (??) and be impeached. I still don't get why they didn't just ask me to resign in the first place (it's not like they didn't know how to reach me or something) but ah well.

More good news: My best friend got us tickets for a FALL OUT BOY concert! (((Misty!)))

Rude awakening...

2006-02-10T05:36:12Z

Well... I'm really upset right now so I hope this isn't completely rambling and makes some amount of sense anyway.
First of all some background. I was the vice president for my school's anime club, but due to other obligations such as school, schoolwork, other work, etc.. I haven't been able to go to meetings a lot of the time. However I had been telling everyone I could about the club and etc and I also had offered to help bake a bunch of stuff for their bake sale that's coming up in a few weeks... I obviously am interested in the club as I offered to help them and stuff, I just can't attend the meetings at the time they are at. I also did stuff for them before like signed up so the club could get an email and website.
The club had set it up so that members could get to go to Acen (huge anime convention in the spring if you don't know) with the school paying for us to go. I had sent in all my info for it months ago, and the club president even called me like two days ago asking for some more info he needed to register me for Acen, which I gave him. I was so happy and looking forward to going to Acen with the club, it was really great especially since I cannot afford to go to the con otherwise...

Well guess what. Today I get an email from the club president:

"I regret to inform you that you are being impeach by the Anime Club for lack of attendance. I would recommend that you Come to the next meeting to answer these charges.

Also do to your lack of attendance your spot is being pulled from the ACEN trip and you may be replace with a more active member sorry."

I was really really upset when I read this! (seriously...my eyes are still all red...)
First of all they could have maybe CALLED me or something instead of sending it in email. Second of all they could have given me some type of warning-- I mean I just talked to him a couple days ago and he asked for some info for Acen, now he says I CAN'T GO with no warning!!
"come to the next meeting to answer these charges" sounds like I'm being charged with a crime or something!
Now the worse part of this is I have no money. If I did have money I would have to use it to pay my parents back for my rat Cara's vet bill and/or to pay for her medicine...
So basically them yanking away my spot on this trip means as of now I CAN'T GO TO ACEN! #$!*