Photo gallery #2

Raleigh, NC - Tonya Lamm & Caitlin Cary of Tres Chicas, The Pour House, 3/30



Angus, on the mend



Lily thinks something is amusing



Raleigh, NC - The Smiths, Chris and Marc, of Patty Hurst Shifter, The Pour House, 4/26



Raleigh, NC - view from another side of the Sheraton, convention center construction in progress

Photo gallery

Raleigh, NC - Salisbury and Davie Streets, early morning, view from the Sheraton



Raleigh, NC - Salisbury and Davie Streets, late evening, view from the Sheraton



Carrboro, NC - Robyn Hitchock at the Cat's Cradle - as blurry as he wants to be



Raleigh, NC - skyline view from the south

Disappointed

The latest pet fud* recalls are out, and Blue Buffalo canned foods are on it. I bought some of the canned stuff a few weeks ago and thankfully hadn't fed it to Angus and Cuya yet. It will be going back to Petsmart ASAP. I researched lots of premium foods after this scare started and put a lot of trust in Blue Buffalo, based on their product information. I'm shocked and shaken to find them included in the recall. I don't cook for myself, but I may have to start cooking for the furkids.
Itchmo seems to have the most up-to-date info on the recalls.
Cuya has an opinion on the recalls, too.

*spelling courtesy of the DivaGeek

On the calendar

Saturday, June 23rd
House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
Drive-By Truckers with Patty Hurst Shifter

Hell yeah.

Lolcat

for the DivaGeek

Getting itchy

It's spring. The bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming (at least the ones that the cold didn't kill), and Dix's thoughts turn to other job opportunities.
Going back to the classroom looks mighty good right now. There are a couple of curriculum positions that have caught my eye as well. The trade-off would be about 3K a year less, but I'd have almost two months of time off. Time that I don't get now.
Time off in June, July, and August vs. working 8 to 4 every day in the summer.
Free travel opportunities with the current job vs. 200 days in the classroom.
Responsibility for 20+ children vs. responsibility for 250+ children and 15 teachers.
What to do. What to do.

The score

Kidney Stones - 1
Asthma - 1
Allergies - 1
Dix - 0

Intervention

You know you have a problem when there are four flash drives connected to your laptop.

Tar Heel

Photo taken on Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC

Update

• Happy 6th Birthday, Maggie! I'm a horrible mom - I'd have forgotten if Dogster hadn't sent a birthday email. She got to run around in the drizzle all by herself this morning, and that for her, is a real treat. She also got a "tartar treat" to chew on, plus a little extra kibble in her bowl.
• Angus is on the road to recovery from his episode with vestibular disorder. It occurred last Saturday night and the LMGC and I didn't know what to make of it. Our initial thoughts were that he'd somehow gotten into something in the hotel room while we were at supper. But we couldn't find anything that would make sense. Dad o'Dix thought it might be a stroke, and when I Googled and read a bit, I pre-diagnosed Angus with vestibular disorder. The vet confirmed it. Reading about vestibular disorder helped to ease my mind and also let me know what we were in for in terms of recovery. Angus still walks sideways at times, has a little trouble with the steps, and still has his head tilt, but is making progress. He actually ran for about 10-15 feet today, with a nice steady gait. Thanks for all the prayers sent up on his behalf.
• Kidney stones. They're hanging around. I am not happy.
• PHS - in Raleigh on 4/26 (yes, it's a school night), in Wilmington on 5/4, and back in Raleigh on 6/8.
  

Not this year's Easter Card

I think

The new PHS EP is their equivalent of Guns n' Roses' Chinese Democracy. I've been waiting and waiting. And yes, Chris says life is mostly waiting, but I didn't think it applied to their cd.

Update: One of the Raleigh folks got his CD in the mail today. I'm crossing my fingers that the Easter Bunny (or Chicken as the case may be) doesn't get waylaid by my crackhead mail carrier.

What we're eating now

My new wifi solution!

Thanks, Google! I'll install my TisP service this weekend!

Testing my pet parent skills

So much has been said about the recent pet food recall that I'm not sure where to start.
Angus and Cuya had been eating some of the recalled food, which is cause for alarm. He gets wet food because at almost-14, his teeth are not in great shape and he's not a big fan of dry food only. Cuya gets wet food because of the extra water it provides - cats need water and some don't drink enough. Thankfully, I don't feed them the amounts of wet food prescribed on the packages. They'd both be big as a house if I did. Obviously I'm hoping their food wasn't tainted, but I feel safer because their exposure has been to a lesser degree.
Now we find out that some dry foods have been contaminated. That's all Cerberus eats. Their food hasn't shown up on the recall list, but more foods are being added every day. So what to do.
I'm heading out to PetsMart in a little while, armed with some recommendations, in search of food that will keep my dogs healthy and just plain alive. I think we'll be making wholesale changes in the critter diet - no more wheat gluten (if possible) and I'm trying to eliminate corn as well. We will see how it goes.

Recall Resources:
PetSitUSA.com blog post about "safe foods"

PetsMart.com and their Smart Nutrition Selector

Menu Foods recall info

To blog about

• Angus
• Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
• Tres Chicas
• St. Paddy's Day with the OAK Team
• New PHS
• something I'm sure I'm forgetting

By the way, I've been "twitterfied" over in the left-hand column. Because I needed one more badge there.

P.S. My badge thought my name was "undefined" and here's the image on "undefined's" twitter page (the DivaGeek will appreciate it).....