From Normal, Illinois....
The "endless summer" of veterinary relief work continues, now in its 13th week. Let's compare it to the famous documentary of that name, about surfing:
Endless Summer: surfers travel the world in search of the perfect wave.
Me: I travel Illinois in search of the perfect breakfast room waffle.
Endless Summer: surfers don't look like they work out in a gym.
Me: I don't look like I work out in a gym.
Endless Summer: surfers visit Ghana, Australia, and Tahiti.
Me: I visit Peoria, Canton, Mt. Vernon, McHenry, and Bloomington.
Endless Summer: surfers have cool 60's haircuts.
Me: I have a cool 60's haircut.
Doc's Cheers and Jeers begins below the fold, with news from around the nation, around the world, and up your alley! ("Up my alley?" Up yours!)
DISCLAIMER: AAbshier's Cheers and Jeers are not affiliated in any way, shape, or form, with Bill in Portland Maine's Cheers and Jeers. The use of the words JEERS and CHEERS , the swoosh/gong device, pie references, pootie pics, lusty wenches, mattress references, whomps, moist, kvetching over meta diaries, the heartbreak of psoriasis, and flicked peas are all used with permission of Bill in Portland Maine and the members of the C&J Café community. Any further resemblances to BiPM`s Cheers and Jeers are deliberately coincidental. So there.
NOTE: Does anyone else find it interesting that the teabaggers chose the "Don't Tread on Me" flag design with the yellow background?
Doc's Bad Joke of the Week
On my way to an errand, I passed my mother in law, she was on her bike.
I stopped and asked: "where are you headed?"
Mother in law: "funeral."
Me: "so who's bringing your bike back?"
Actually, I liked my last mother in law, for the most part. On with the show:
The Personal:
Cheers and Jeers to a crazy-busy summer of relief work. As you saw in the opener, I've been around much of the state. The travel has been exhausting and the hotel rooms have started running together, but I have also been well received every place I've worked (one guy even wanted me to join his practice as an associate) and the money has been a godsend. After flirting with financial oblivion just 6 months ago I have money in savings, and more to come!
Cheers to friends I've made along the way. From yoga studios to some of the practices I've worked at, I feel like people seem to like me. I guess I'll have to re-think the whole "I'm a loser" meme.
Jeers to difficult anniversaries. Last week was one year since I found out my marriage was ending. I treated it like one more day of the week, and it was mostly okay, but there were (and are) still moments it hurts. But there is one very good thing that came from that ending:
Cheers to new beginnings. I have firmly committed myself to relocating back to Sarasota as soon as I am able. That is contingent on my house selling (not likely soon, unfortunately) but when I do go, I'll be near the Mote Marine Lab again, and can again pursue my lifelong dream of working with marine mammals. In spite of everything, I like Illinois, but this state can't offer that, and, let's face it, winters are a bitch up here. (A proper "white Christmas" is the white sandy beaches of Siesta Key, not that fluffy icy stuff that falls from the sky. Just sayin'.)
The Rest:
Cheers to UCC minister Larry Reimer, pastor of the United Church of Gainesville, Florida. In response to a crosstown "church's" plans to burn Qu'rans on September 11th, he is planning to give readings from the Qu'ran to his congregation for services on September 12th. Even better, Rev. Reimer has organized other Gainesville religious leaders to do the same, 15 as of the blog post's publishing. To paraphrase Pastor Dan, this is escalating love! Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale....
Jeers to the Islamophobic, brain-dead minions who held a protest march in New York City over Cordoba House/Park 51. John Cole at Balloon Juice posted a video which showed a black man accosted by the mob and being accused of being Muslim. This particular incident within the protest has started to get a lot of play, but what hasn't been reported so much is what he said:
"All y'all dumb motherfuckers don’t even know my opinion on shit."
Your Republican/Tea Party movement, summed up in one sentence.
Jeers to Glenn McCoy, editorial cartoonist for the Belleville News-Republican Democrat. He's routinely offensive, but his latest is over-the-top offensive. Dickweed. (To be fair, I find his cartoons very useful--for lining the cages of my fulminant diarrhea patients.)
And Now, a Word From Our Sponsor:
Remember U.S. made clothing? Yeah, me neither. Even in 1978, outsourcing was a big issue:
Jeers to arch enemies. As in Gateway Arch enemies, rust and decay. An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch describes the monument's many issues uncovered in a 2006 study. The Park Service is emphasizing that it is not a health and safety issue, but it is clear that there is deterioration on the outside.
Cheers to good timing. Just in time for me needing material for a full-scale C&J, along comes frequent Belleville News-Republican Democrat LTE regular crazy, Chapo "Chapeaux" Jones, with yet another published screed:
First, I find it outrageous that President Obama gave his sign of approval to build a mosque within sight of ground zero. This president has no respect for America, but he is intent on destroying our economy.[....]
Groan. Here we go. However, I'll give him props for not calling him "President Barack Hussein Obama", though it could be that was edited out.
China, the president's bank of choice, is having its own economic problems with 5 percent plus inflation rate while consumers are spending less.
Wall Street is paying close attention to China's economic problems, too. If China burps, our economy could get economic diarrhea. Also, we're in debt to China for $825 billion.
The president has built an economic house of cards with China as the cornerstone. So what will he do if China decides to remove the cornerstone?
Finally, Obama is completely tone deaf to what America wants.
Chapo Jones
Swansea
Hmmm, I seem to recall that the PRC became our bankers during the Bush administration--but of course, Chapeaux operates by St. Ronnie's Eleventh Commandment. "Tone deaf to what America wants?" More like tone deaf to what Chapeaux wants. Maybe he needs a night with Pam "Atlas Juggs" Geller.
For a palate cleanser, Cheers to Kevin J. Gagen of Belleville, who wrote a much better LTE, (scroll down) framing the Cordoba House/Park51 controversy perfectly.
Finally, Cheers to Inky!
When I got her in 1997, the vet I was taking my pets to then said she was at least 2 years old, possibly even 4 years old. That makes her a minimum of 15 years old now, but even still, she got a nearly clean bill of health from my veterinarian* including normal results on her bloodwork and urinalysis. She will need her teeth cleaned, which I will have done later this month, but all else is good.
*With my own pets, I prefer objective eyes doing the examining and workup. Dr. Lindstrom was very impressed both with her overall condition and her excellent behavior in the clinic.
Special guest cat Amy from the Brunswick Animal Hospital here in Normal says, "Hit that reco button, and I'll do lots more high-grade lovey dovey on Doc's arm!"
Please help our friends in Pakistan, suffering after the great floods.
Floor's open! What's on your minds?