Blog of Fun

Christmas Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 04:43:00 +0000

Merry Christmas! We have a new dog, Huck. He was found on the side of the road a couple of weeks ago with a broken leg, pelvis, and tail. He has just about recovered from all of that, and is quickly becoming part of the family. Gromit loves him.

The Christmas collar is a coincidence – we thought he would look good in green :-)

Not much else is going on here. Katrin is on call; the hospital is open over the holidays for the first time in recent memory. So we’re spending Christmas in Auburn with the handful of people who didn’t finagle some vacation time.
Happy holidays and all that!

Chris and Jen's Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:24:00 +0000

We went to Madisonville, LA this past weekend to attend the wedding of my very old friend Dr. Chris Janssen and his new bride Dr. Jennifer Wooderson.

I was a groomsman, so the party started Friday with the rehearsal, and went through Sunday brunch, and then a boat ride on the Tchefuncte river to bring the Champagne Lady back to her berth.

Tons of pictures here, but not forever since it's half a GB worth.

Back in the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:30:00 +0000

We haven't posted anything in forever - we've mostly switched to messing around on facebook.

Here's a little photo album for those of you still paying attention :-)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58880&l=ad4e2&id=582426019

Cat Chaise

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:04:00 +0000

We've been wanting to get some patio furniture for a while, but the sticker shock was giving us pause. We finally mail-ordered some.

Of course, it came in some enormous cardboard boxes, which provided us with plenty of construction material for a project that we've been wanting to do since we saw it here.

The rationale here is that cats like anything cardboard, so what better material to use for luxury cat furniture? The Kid started sitting on it before we even got started.

Here's the base, with some additional bracing underneath. The Kid has gained more than a few pounds since her refugee days, so she needs something sturdy.

The dogs had to get in on the action as well. This is the top, also cut from one big piece of cardboard.

She loves it! She's hardly left the chaise since we set it up in the living room. It's a little bigger than it needs to be - I guess we overestimated The Kid's size when we laid out the design. And that's saying something.

The Kid's favorite old bath mat just happens to fit in there.

Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:30:00 +0000

This was going to be a comment on Cat's post, but it turned into a story.

My cable company has a voice-activated service system that wants to talk to me for half an hour every time I call.

I discovered something interesting one day while complaining to the computer about this (technically it's listening to me, which I think makes that less weird.)

The system responds to a number of terms like "service representative," "person," and even "human being." I think the last one was the one I inadvertently discovered, but I've since branched out. It never tells you that you have the option of asking for a human being, but it will transfer you if you pester it enough.

So the conversation goes like this:

Jim: (puches a bunch of buttons to get to high speed internet tech support)
Computer: Thank you for calling, sorry you're having problems, yada yada.
Computer: First, let's try a few steps to see if we can fix your problem. Can you see your cable modem? It has several lights on the front of it.
Jim: Human being
Computer: Did I hear you say "human being?"
Jim: Yes
Computer: We haven't finished
Jim: Human being
Computer: But...
Jim: Human being
Computer: Alright, I'm transferring you to a customer service representative.

Project Tracklight

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Wherein Jim, his judgement clouded by the challenge and excitement of a home-improvement project, decides to work in an attic. In Alabama. In July.

Katrin and I were sitting in our living room lamenting the lack of light, when Katrin says, "Track lights would look good in here."
"Why yes," I reply, "they would." So I go get some stuff.

Now if you're going to crawl around in an attic in July, you might as well go for the three-way switches, right? The first one replaces a switch by the front door, which used to control the outlet below it (now the outlet is always on.) We never got around to getting a floor lamp for that outlet, maybe because I don't think of floor lamps as home improvement (they can be installed without tools.)

The second switch goes next to the existing living room light in a new box.
I didn't want to lie face down in the insulation while feeding the wire through this hole:

So I broke out the cordless jig saw and made myself some space.

Light! I got over the "insulation itchies" within a couple of days, and now Katrin won't go blind reading* in the living room.
* "Reading" often consists of sleeping in the recliner with a copy of JAVMA and one or the other of our pets.

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:14:00 +0000

I've been traveling a little bit lately, and have a couple of pics to share...My resident mates Aylin, Michelle, Jill and I went to an orthopaedic surgery conference in Ohio (wohoo!) I do have to say that the hotel we stayed at was wonderful and it was located in a very nice shopping district so there was stuff to do every night. The conference was great, I think we all learned a lot!

Here we are, enjoying some awesome food (this conference had the best food ever!)

We went to the Melting Pot one night for dinner, it was quite fun!

The next weekend, I flew down to Baton Rouge for my 10 year high school reunion which was a blast. It's cool to see what everyone is doing now!

I stayed with my good friends Jena and Case. Jena was one of my classmates in Vet School. Here we are with their dogs Ella and Bea, walking the lakes...

My friend Adrienne and I, enjoying breakfast at Louie's Cafe.

Talladega

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:49:00 +0000

Last Sunday a group of us went to Talladega to see a Nascar race. We're living in Alabama, after all. There were quite a few "only in Alabama" moments:

You can make up your own captions for those two pictures, because I really have no explanation for them.

Some inappropriate fru fru drinks, and of course the surgeons always have their phones with them.

There were a few people tailgating.

Nascar is very patriotic, of course. You've got your Mack truck racing around the track with a flag, and military jets buzzing the stands.

Having fun in the stands:

And racing, of course.

Swayback

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Katrin and I raced our first mountain bike race in a long time last Sunday, at the Swayback Bridge trail in Wetumpka, AL. It was brutal, as all of them are - racing mountain bikes can be a little strenuous. Especially if, like Katrin, you haven't even been on one in several months.

You wouldn't know any of that looking at this picture of her crossing the finish line. Big smile!

Houseguest

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:28:00 +0000

While I was in New Orleans for a business trip, Katrin met a little dog from the humane society that wound up staying with us for a few days. She was really cute, but in the end we decided not to adopt her. She was even more of a nut than Gromit; he needs someone more mellow to balance him out. Fortunately she didn't manage to eat a whole lot of our stuff while she was here.

Not to worry - cute little dogs get snapped up quickly, so she's sure to find a good home. We'll wind up with a second dog one of these days, but we're not in any great hurry.

Busted The Kid

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:17:00 +0000

The Kid has figured out how to extract extra food from her automatic feeder that Digby Atilla bought for her. Jim happened to catch her in the act--Busted The Kid!

Here she is innocently looking out of the window, and silently plotting her next meal...

Super Cute!

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Senior Prom

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:07:00 +0000

Every year the senior class at the AU College of Veterinary Medicine has a senior banquet which we jokingly refer to as the "Prom." This year's prom was again loads of fun. At this even, the senior class also presents awards for their favorite faculty member and resident. I was very honored to receive the favorite resident award this year! Thanks Class of 2008!!

Funny Gnome Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:56:00 +0000

My good friend Jill (neurology/neurosurgery resident) really like gnomes. We have a couple of garden gnomes at our house, and then a much smaller gnome that lives in the house. We've had several parties, and every time, Jill brings her camera and takes pictures of the gnomes which she has named Hans and Franz (the garden gnomes) and Dieter (the little gnome). Without her permission ;) I'm going to share a few of her pics, because they are really cute.

Long Time No Post

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:26:00 +0000

We've been lazy about posting for a while - there never seems to be enough time. We've also started using facebook quite a bit, which I think is taking up some of our internet social time. I resisted at first, but my last project at work was a facebook application, so I spent a couple of months messing around with it and got hooked.

So what have we been doing? We went to New Orleans and Baton Rouge for Christmas this year. Gromit came with us, and didn't behave himself as well we had hoped. He was friendly to dogs and babies, which was our primary concern.

I made a couple of planned purchases - a new Dell laptop and a new camera (a Nikon D80.) I'm still trying to figure out the best way to share pictures - not everyone is on facebook, and I never thought Flicker was all that great. I'll post a few at the end of this post.

So just when I was going back to being frugal, our washer locked up and burned up the drive belt. It's in the same room as the water heater, and adjacent to the utility closet. It took me a few seconds to identify the source of the smell and ascertain the extent of the disaster; I was actually a bit relieved that nothing was going to explode or burn down. So we got a new washer.

And then the roof sprung a small leak, so it seemed like a good time to replace the shingles. We knew that needed doing, but we've been putting it off.

Ah, the joys of home ownership. I hope all this increases the resale value.

Some pictures of random stuff, including the lunar eclipse:

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 03:22:00 +0000

Is it Thanksgiving again? We're repeating holidays and parties that we were in Auburn for last year, which is a reminder of how long we've been here. Less than three years to go - not that we're getting tired of it. On the contrary, I'm really liking this town.

Tomorrow we're going to the annual resident and intern Thanksgiving dinner at Michelle and Eric's house. At least I am anyway - as the first year surgery resident, Katrin is on call over Thanksgiving. Hopefully nobody's pet will ingest a Turkey bone or other Thanksgiving paraphernalia tomorrow.

Michelle is off to practice Neurology in Florida in the spring, so Katrin and I are going to take over the Thanksgiving dinner next year. I hope there aren't any secrets to cooking turkeys that I don't know about - I'll have to pay attention tomorrow.

Lazy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:40:00 +0000

Today we went for a run with Gromit at a park nearby. He had a blast (as always). Here's what The Kid did in the meantime.

Gromit's friend Digby is going to be hanging out with us later this week while Aylin is at a conference. He is going to be super excited that his best friend is coming for a sleepover! Pictures to come!!

Other than that it's been pretty quiet around the house. I'm on oncology for 4 weeks right now. It's always a good experience, and we usually have really nice clients and patients. Here are some pictures of me and one of my all time favorite patients. She had a tumor on her side that was surgically removed, and she just finished her 4 weeks of radiation therapy and is going home Monday. I'm really going to miss her, she gave me hugs and kisses every day, but I'm also glad that she'll be able to go home and be with her owner again after such a long stay in the hospital.

Home Office

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 22:20:00 +0000

Now that I'm done with Project Table:

I can finish the house picture series with one of the newly rearranged home office:

Not much is going on here in Auburn. Kartrin has been surgerizing and studying statistics, and I'm slowing taking care of projects around the house, when I'm not working. I did a little touch-up painting today.

What Television?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:50:00 +0000

I don't know what all those comments are about...

:-)

But seriously, I've owned a TV for years - we just never had cable. We've had Netflix for a long time and watch movies on a pretty regular basis - though things have been pretty busy for both of us lately and there hasn't been a lot of movie watching going on.

AARRRGHHH!

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:57:00 +0000

Celebrating Annie's birthday and "Internation Talk Like A Pirate Day". It's amazing how your depth perception changes with an eye patch on--it made playing darts somewhat of a challenge!

A-team pirates:

House Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:42:00 +0000

OK, OK, here they are. Jeez.

The living room:

A couple of pictures of the kitchen. I found the barstools at Wood You, the unfinished furniture place, after we got the table. One of them still needs another finish coat.

We probably wouldn't have chosen those curtains - they're a little adventurous - but we do like them. There are lots of big windows to open, for which I've been making screens, and I put a screen door on the side of the house. It's that time of year.

Second bedroom:

The hall bathroom. Again, not something we would likely have done, but it's really cool. That's paint, not wallpaper.

Master bedroom, with new (wider) bed and comfy mattress.

The master bath. Some of the fancy new houses have "garden tubs" and whatnot, but we think the big shower makes a lot more sense.

Here's Gromit lounging on the back porch. It seems like everyone in this neighborhood has a dog, and I wonder if we all moved here so that our dogs could have a nice big back yard. Or maybe dog people are outdoor people also, and we all like back yards for that reason.

New Orleans

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:31:00 +0000

So I know we're a bit past Labor Day here, but Katrin and I spent it in New Orleans visiting my parents. I'm trying to catch up here, and house pictures are coming up next!

We drove around on Lake Ponchatrain with my dad, to escort Kate and her friend on a sailing trip.

The lighthouse needs some work. We had lunch at the yacht club, which is currently housed in a surprisingly nice prefabricated metal building. It's basically a triple-wide.

And we had snowballs, of course. One a day for the three days we were there. Maybe I'll add Hubig's pies to the list of things that must be consumed while in South Louisiana - but the list is already pretty long!

My parent's house is just about finished. The parts that have been rebuilt are shiny new and better than ever. Here's a panorama of the garden, with its new palm trees and snazzy layout.

If you scroll all the way around, you can see Jimmy and Patty's new house accross the street, which Dad designed for them.

New Labcoat

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:28:00 +0000

The College of Veterinary Medicine bought me several new labcoats with my new and improved title on them - The Kid loves them!

Here she is lounging on the labcoats and playing with the wrist strap of my camera while I'm taking a picture...

Here she is again, chillin'

Found Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:27:00 +0000

I was heading to Panera to get some soup and a sandwich this evening, and saw a dog wandering down the street by itself. I pulled over and called the number on the tag, and chatted with the owner for a couple of minutes. When I told him that my wife Katrin would be home if I wasn't, he asked if she worked at the vet school! It turns out I was talking to the new emergency medicine resident.

Back in Baton Rouge we stopped to check on a wandering dog, and it turned out to belong to one of the clinicians at the LSU vet school. So we're two-for-two on knowing the owners of the dogs that we randomly stop to help.

Gromit had a new friend to play with for a few minutes until Mitch got home from work. I should have guessed that he worked a the vet school when he told me that he was at work for an hour on a Sunday afternoon.

No pictures this time - my camera died again, and it doesn't look like it's coming back this time.

Residency Starts...

noreply@blogger.com (Katrin) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:36:00 +0000

I officially started my small animal surgery residency on Monday. So far it's going pretty well. We were fairly busy this past week, and I got to cut quite a few cases. I didn't think that there would be a huge difference between my internship and my residency, but somehow I do feel like students, faculty and staff treat me with even more respect than before.

Friday was a fabulous day-several of my friends who are Internal Medicine and Neurology/Neurosurgery residents took their Medicine qualifyer boards a few weeks ago at a conference in Seattle (this is basically step 1 to board certification for them). All of the people from Auburn passed. In celebration, Aylin (fellow surgery resident) Annie (one of the people who passed-yay!) and I went joy-riding in one of the golf carts at work (probably highly illegal, but oh so much fun!). Here are some pics from our adventure:

Saturday night we went to see the new Harry Potter movie with our friend Holly who just finished her radiology residency (congrats!!). While at the movie theater took some pictures with the Simpsons

That's about it from Auburn. We should be getting our new couch and recliner this week, then we'll post some pictures of the new house!