Samson is back after his neuter surgery on Friday. He was pretty drugged up on Friday night and we had to put his E collar on. He stumbled around and hit his head on everything. He was slow to come out of the drug haze and when we put him to bed he stood facing the rear wall with his cone on and wouldn't lie down. Darla and I were laughing, but finally got him to lay down and sleep.
We were at the Candlelight service this morning at church and enjoyed the Christmas carols and the message. We stopped after church at PetSmart to see if we could get Samson a new inflatable collar as the cone is really a hazard for him and for us. Unfortunately they didn't have the right size for him. I called around to other stores and we found one at PetCo and Darla ran over to the store and picked one up. You can see the difference between the two. It was amazing. "Was" is the key word because we watched him lay down and start licking his stitches around his junk. $37 was a waste. Darla will return the collar tomorrow. When I say the collar is a hazard for us, it is because he can't see around himself with the collar on. He climbs up on the couch (with his feet on the ground) and lays on my lap. When he hears something or needs to see, he whips his head around and smacks me with the hard plastic collar. We were so hoping the new collar would work because he can eat and drink with it on. We have to take the plastic collar off to let him eat. He could see around him with the inflatable on. It was great, but the whole reason he is wearing it is to keep him out of the incision and let it heal up.
He is much better now and handling his cone better. He still walks into things and startles himself and takes off running. I can't let him in the backyard by himself. I'm afraid he'll stumble over a patio light or something and hurl himself into the pool. I was cleaning the pool on Saturday and he was tight roping along the pool deck and I was afraid he was going swimming. I finally put him inside so I could finish the job. I also changed out the patio light in the back and put in an infrared security light with two high beam spotlights, one shining on the potty area and the other on the spa area.
We woke up this morning a little later as we were off to the 10:30 service for church. I went out to start my car and it was dead. I had noticed it was a little hard cranking the last couple of days and figured something was wrong. I was praying it wasn't the alternator. We drove Darla's truck to church and called AAA when we got home. They sent out a battery tech and they got here right as the Cowboy game was starting. It indeed was the battery and I had changed it out back in 2013 when it failed me at work. With the computers in cars nowadays the average life of a car battery is 4-5 years. My battery was a AAA battery and had a 6 year warranty. AAA waives the first three months, so I got $50 off the price of a replacement and paid $139 for this one. Hey, Merry Christmas to me.
Darla and I were not buying Christmas presents for each other this year until this week when our TV decided to give up the ghost. We sat down Thursday night to a delicious meal of steak and rice (one of my favorite meals that Mom made when I was a kid).Darla and I eat at the table in the family room at the couch. The table has a leaf that lifts up and we sit on the leather couch and share our day with one another. We'll then turn on a program as it is usually after 7 by the time we get dinner on the table. Thursday it was a shock when the TV wouldn't turn on. There was a light flashing that said LAMP. One of the back light lamps had failed and needed to be replaced. Of course, I jumped on the internet and bought a new one. We had a 55 inch DLP HD TV from 2009 and I saw this as a sign that I needed to upgrade to a new Ultra HD Smart TV. We also upgraded to a 65 inch.
The old one was about 18 inches deep and the new one is less than three inches. It seems humongous to Darla and I although its only 10 inches larger. The picture is incredible and we got a deal on a 2017 closeout. We had wanted to buy a 65 inch Samsung as our old one was so good. We ordered it and I got a call from the store that they were down to the floor model. They would knock $50 off. I was going to cancel it, but the guy told me about a Sony Bravia 65 inch that was being closed out. It was regularly $1499 marked down to $998 and they were knocking $200 off as long as you bought a $180 three year warranty. I actually got the Sony for $20 less than the Samsung WITH a 3 year warranty. You can see in the pictures above the old one on the floor along with the new one in a box and then on the stand working. The driver for Frys actually took our old one away without charging us.
I was able to watch Dallas lose today on the new TV and in spite of their sloppy play it was incredible to see the game on the larger screen. Dak Prescott had his worst game as a Cowboy and Dez Bryant had a hissy fit and then fumbled a ball and had another glance off his hands and into a defender's for a pick six. Dallas basically gave the game away with 21 points off of turnovers as they lost 21-12. I'm not upset as the team really wasn't a championship team this year. The offensive line was hurt by the retirement of Doug Free, the loss of Ronald Leary in free agency to Denver and the constant injury woes of Tyron Smith. Dallas still has a great offensive line, but they are much worse without Smith. Hopefully we can address the defensive line and linebacker positions in the draft this year as well as shore up the offensive line with the draft and free agency.
I played golf Saturday morning over at Woodcreek with Paul, Bryan and Bryan's brother, Steve. Steve is a first responder with Cal Fire in Auburn, a fire captain and at the age of 53 just retired with a full pension after 30 years of service. Steve shot 79, Bryan shot 82, Paul 84 and I shot 88, with a 42 on the back side. Paul and I will team up next weekend in the Holiday Classic at Woodcreek. It is a 2 day event Saturday and Sunday. I will get out on Wednesday again at Woodcreek for a round with Ron and Pete for a holiday sports marketing outing and another day of practice for the Classic. Steve who is now retired will join Pete, Ron and I. Steve and Ron know each other from the club.
Darla and I are hosting John and Camille, Charlie and Frieda and Ron and Lizanne for New Years Eve. We are cooking a prime rib and will play pool, games and watch the fun from Times Square on our new TV. Darla was feeling drab and having issues with Samson and was coming out of her funk when we invited everyone and then the surgery brought her back down. She wanted to cancel the dinner, but we are going through with it and I will help her clean the house and with cooking. My golf is a 9 AM shotgun both days next weekend, so I should be home by 2. Pray for us.
Work continues to wind down for the year and I'm busy with budgeting, reviews and year end
issues. The Personal Lines candidate met with Harvey and we want to hire her, but we have concern in that she has never done any marketing calls before. Pete and I will meet with her and really hone in on the marketing side. Her current company hires separate marketing reps that do the agency calls. She has been on a few calls, but we will really zero in on her comfort level with the process. I'll probably offer her a job. We also lost another Assistant who has decided to buy a pool cleaning business from a friend of his. He is getting a turn key business with a client list and all of the tools and supplies. I now need another Assistant and frankly, I was looking for a second assistant for this underwriter. Now, she has none.
Well. I will add pictures from Christmas and New Years and work on the blog next year. Monday to be exact. I hope you are all well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Ciao.
No comments:
Post a Comment