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GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Amarnath S16-Jan-20 22:22
professionalAmarnath S16-Jan-20 22:22 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Jörgen Andersson16-Jan-20 22:23
professionalJörgen Andersson16-Jan-20 22:23 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Eddy Vluggen16-Jan-20 23:00
professionalEddy Vluggen16-Jan-20 23:00 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
honey the codewitch17-Jan-20 0:33
mvahoney the codewitch17-Jan-20 0:33 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
theoldfool17-Jan-20 0:56
professionaltheoldfool17-Jan-20 0:56 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Cp-Coder17-Jan-20 1:03
Cp-Coder17-Jan-20 1:03 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Mike Hankey17-Jan-20 1:09
mveMike Hankey17-Jan-20 1:09 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
kalberts17-Jan-20 2:28
kalberts17-Jan-20 2:28 
My dog story:

I love big dogs - preferably huge. So I got my family a St.Bernhard, not a huge one, just 75 kg. (The winner of most prizes in Norway that year was a St.B of 130 kg.) The breeder warned me: Those big dogs do not live very long. You can't expect more than 7 years for a male, 8 years for a female.

When he turned seven, he was visibly getting old. To make sure we wouldn't suddenly be without someone to drag us out on a walk (no matter the weather), we bought a little puppy (for half a year going by the name Micro-soft). So how did that turn out?

You have probably seen grown men becoming granddaddies. You know which effect it can have on them. He loved the little one more than he loved himself, and the puppy adored his Big Hero. So the oldie didn't die - he lived on and on; the two of them being best buddies for well above three years.

The oldie was getting close to eleven years of age, which is quite a lot for a male St.B, but still he enjoyed 3-4 km long walk in the woods. Until one day, coming down from the woods, he started staggering, and had to lay down in the shadow of the grocery store while I filled my backpack with foodstuff. He wouldn't raise again; I had to walk home to get my car for bringing him home. He had fresh water in his bowl, he drank and wagged his tail without getting onto his feet, and said goodbye.

Well, that didn't come unexpected to me. The next morning I was going to take the youngster, three and a half years old, in his prime, on that same 4 km walk. He simply refused to walk past the spot where the oldie had been laying when he died. I had to use the choke collar and drag him by force past that spot. When we had made our walk, on our way home passed the grocery store, the youngster started staggering just like the old one the previous day. Again I had to go to get the car, and drag him into it. Again, I brought fresh water, he slurped some, bumped his tail on the floor while I was petting him, before he went to wherever his Big Hero had gone.

By that time, I no longer had a family, but was alone with the dogs. That set me thinking: Even before the youngster came into the family, there was lots of activity in the house: Several to pet the dog, people preparing meals, eating with the dog next to the table (even if he knew he wouldn't get any of our food!), chatting and all sorts of social life. When the youngster arrived, for three and a half years, the two had had each other 24/7, never alone, always someone to play with.

It is not realistic to actively spend more than 3-4 hours a day with your dog - walking him, petting, feeding. If there are 6-8 additional hours of social activity, the dog is happy. Being alone, I do not talk that much to myself; it is quiet. There is no reading books with the kids. No discussions. Meals are simplified; they are not social events as they used to be with a family. Essentially the youngster would go from 24/7 together with his best buddy, to at least 20 hours daily of total loneliness. He knew that. He didn't want it.

So I made a firm decision: As long as I do not get myself a new family (and the chances of that are epsilon squared), I will not get myself a new dog to be left to twenty daily hours of complete loneliness. If you have a family, or a rich social life with more or less daily visitors to your home, then the dog won't be alone; he will be one of the pack, even if noone is petting him at the moment. That is fine. I very rarely have visitors, my social activities is outside the home. So I do my walks without a dog nowadays.

I am always pushing my view on someone dying: Don't be sad because they are dead. Be happy that they have lived! I will not focus on "missing the dogs", but on all the nice stories I can tell about them. All the pleasures I had with them. I am happy to have been a dog owner for eleven years.

We shall all die. For those who enjoy classic Italian music: That is the baseline in Marco Beasley's performance of "Passacaglia della vita [^] Bisogna morire - we shall all die. A superb performance of that piece.
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Sander Rossel17-Jan-20 3:25
professionalSander Rossel17-Jan-20 3:25 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Amarnath S17-Jan-20 4:53
professionalAmarnath S17-Jan-20 4:53 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
jeron117-Jan-20 4:07
jeron117-Jan-20 4:07 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
jackbrownii17-Jan-20 4:45
professionaljackbrownii17-Jan-20 4:45 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Wendelius17-Jan-20 6:13
mentorWendelius17-Jan-20 6:13 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Gary Wheeler17-Jan-20 6:55
Gary Wheeler17-Jan-20 6:55 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Sander Rossel17-Jan-20 9:30
professionalSander Rossel17-Jan-20 9:30 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Dr.Walt Fair, PE17-Jan-20 11:16
professionalDr.Walt Fair, PE17-Jan-20 11:16 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
Joan M17-Jan-20 22:34
professionalJoan M17-Jan-20 22:34 
GeneralRe: The CAT scan results are in... Pin
David O'Neil19-Jan-20 15:00
professionalDavid O'Neil19-Jan-20 15:00 
GeneralCCC - 17/1/20 Pin
super16-Jan-20 21:34
professionalsuper16-Jan-20 21:34 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 Pin
OriginalGriff16-Jan-20 21:48
mveOriginalGriff16-Jan-20 21:48 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 we have a winner Pin
super16-Jan-20 22:01
professionalsuper16-Jan-20 22:01 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 we have a winner Pin
OriginalGriff16-Jan-20 22:10
mveOriginalGriff16-Jan-20 22:10 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 Pin
musefan16-Jan-20 23:57
musefan16-Jan-20 23:57 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 Pin
OriginalGriff17-Jan-20 0:03
mveOriginalGriff17-Jan-20 0:03 
GeneralRe: CCC - 17/1/20 Pin
musefan17-Jan-20 0:07
musefan17-Jan-20 0:07 

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Were you affected by the geomagnetic storms this past weekend?
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