Facets of Our Lives

So something frightening happened to my dog. In April, I was working for a few weeks in New Hampshire, and a few days after I returned, my beloved Belgian Malinois presented with some scary symptoms. He kept falling, as if one side of his body were weaker, and he was vomiting. My first reaction was that he had suffered a stroke, and I went into a panic. I normally consider myself calm, cool, and logical when adverse situations occur, but my dog is my baby. And I could not imagine what rehab one might do for a dog who had had a stroke. We rushed him to a 24-hour animal hospital in Gilbert, AZ. He was diagnosed with "Old Dog" vestibular disease, also called idiopathic vestibular disease . It is somewhat common in older dogs (my dog is now 12 years old), and most owners react exactly the way I did. According to Dr. Jennifer Coates of website petMD :   The vestibular system is composed of portions of the brain and ear and is responsible for maintaining our sense of ba

As I mentioned on Monday , while I still reside in Arizona, I have been working in California. Specifically, I have been working at a site about 30 minutes north of San Francisco. I have spent much of the last several months on site, but in 2013, we are adjusting my schedule so I can divide my time a bit more fairly and effectively between the two states. Since relocating to Arizona in 2005, I have spent most of my time working from home, leaving me outside of typical office politics and human social interaction. It hasn't been all bad - in fact, I have found that it has made my work more productive and efficient. Unfortunately, I am still human, and there is much to like about being around other members of the species. Not the least of this is what I refer to as "eye candy". And oh, is there much to see. Post education, we meet most of our social contacts through our places of employment. Even with all the social media options we have now, there is no substitute

On November 6, 2012, the United States re-elected Barack Obama to a second term as President. While the rejoicing was not as euphoric as 2008, this came as a great relief to many across the country and the world. Despite living in a traditionally red state (Arizona) and working in a very blue state (California), I know many from the opposite party in both locations. It has given me a new respect for Republicans and conservatives in general, and encouraged me on the issues that are important to me. I am a civil rights voter. It's not that I don't care about energy, the environment, or the economy, but in my opinion, until we get beyond certain serious civil issues, things are not going to improve. One party has a decidedly better record in this area. And I think this is where the future lies, more than many might expect. As citizens, as human beings, we are stewards of our country and our world. We are only here temporarily, but we all leave a legacy. We can choose to le

My sincere apologies for my protracted absence. I've begun working in California, and much of what I do is write all day -- so writing more at night and on weekends has had a reduced appeal. But I was telling a co-worker about my blogging activities, and I thought it was time that I incorporate this blog back into my life again. So here we are. Monday is normally my foodie day, but with my traveling, that's become even more of a challenge -- so I'll return to this topic next week, just in time for Thanksgiving. :-) Tomorrow, on politics day, I'll give my take on the recent election. It was monumental in a lot of ways. Wednesday is sex/relationship day, so I'll have a post on workplace flirtation and romance. Now that I don't work from home a lot, I have some material for this based on my observations and experiences. Not that I didn't have any before, but it's definitely in my face these days. Thursday is pets day, and since I last wrote, my